No Slippers and Broken Glass
by Little Miss Lottie
Summary: A new case involving a brutal murder brings more drama for Nick, along with the appearance of another Wesen. An old face brings Monroe's childhood closer to home than he'd have liked.
1. Chapter 1  Blood and Tears

Hi there! I haven't written in ages and ages and ages and then I started watching Grimm and everything changed ^_^ I love it so much! This is the first things I've written it a while so I hope you like it, please R&R!

Also on a side note: I live in England and we've not had as much of the series aired over here yet so I'm a bit behind (I would try watching it online but I only have a little netbook which doesn't like video *sigh*) so please forgive me any discrepancies.

Second side note: I don't own Grimm but I will claim a couple of these characters as my own.

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><p>"<strong>Thou wishest thou couldst go to the ball; is it not so?"<strong>

"**Yes" cried Cinderella, with a great sigh.**

"**Well," said the godmother, "be a good girl, and I will contrive that thou shalt go"**

The phone flicked to the answer phone again;

"Hi this is Toby and Cindy Steiner, please leave a message and we'll call you right back" the supposedly cheerful message was sounding tinny and annoying now. This was the sixteenth call she'd made to this evening and she knew Cindy was there, why wasn't she answering?

It was getting late now, closer to twelve than eleven and she was getting worried. Their house was only down the street, would it hurt to go take a peek? The woman grabbed her coat, and disappeared out the door, her pace quickening as she walked further down the road until she stopped outside the large house.

No lights. Not even an outside one. And the gate was open. And Cindy's car was still in the drive.

It scared her, there had to be something wrong. Cindy had said she'd be there... promised to call... this was so unlike her and that frightened her more.

Pausing only for a split second, she rushed through the open gate and up the front steps. The door wasn't shut properly and now she could feel her body shaking as she pushed open the door further, every fibre of her body telling her to run, to leave, to get far away because something definitely wasn't right.

"Cindy?" She called quietly, "Cindy-Lou?"

A few steps in now and no response.

"Cindy?" Louder this time "Honey, are you there?"

A few more steps and still nothing. Looking around she could see a faint glimmer of light from one of the back rooms, the kitchen.

Quietly she crept toward it, a sickly feeling rising in her throat and a knot tightening in her stomach. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she pushed the door open and peered inside.

On the floor, in a pool of congealing blood, lay the body of her best friend.

"Oh my god, Cindy-Lou!" she gasped, trying to stop tears rising. "Wha... I ..."

She moved closer, tears falling free now and sobs starting to shake her. Without a thought she collapsed next to the body, holding what was left, hugging it close, not caring about the blood or anything else.

Some time later, when she had cried and sobbed and began to feel calm again she got up and went over to the nearest phone. Her hands were sticky with blood, but she dialled the number she needed.

It rang once... twice... three times..

"Portland Emergency Services how can I help?" came the voice on the end of the line.

"Hi there, my name is Eleanor-May Thomas and I would like to report a murder ."

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><p>A little short maybe, a little strange too but please stick with me, I try to set my stuff up well. (I did say try). I'll say it again; please review!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2 Lack of Sleep

_Well hello again ^_^ Firstly thankies to all the positive-ness and to D Squirrel for my first review, it inspires me to keep writing. I can't seem to stop thinking about this so I'm writing alot, which hopefully means lots of updates! Please continue to R&R._

_This chapter is longer than the first one, but I hope you don't get bored. _

_Little Side Note of the Day: I don't own Grimm and it's related characters but I am claiming Cindy, Eleanor-May and Tom as my own. _

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><p>Nick was just dozing off when he got the call. The loud ringing made him jump and it took him a moment to realise what it was. For a moment, he seriously considered not picking up and he lay staring into the darkness before reaching out and grabbing it.<p>

"Burkhardt." He said, trying hard not to sound as asleep as he felt. It had been a long day, rewarded by a nice, quiet evening with Juliette. He knew it wouldn't stay peaceful for long though, it was always the same.

"Hey Nick, we've got a body." It was Wu, sounding as calm as ever.

"Wha.. Ok... where?" answered Nick, stifling a yawn and listening as the Sergeant began listing off details. About an hour or so ago, woman had called in to report a murder and when the police arrived at the house they found her covered in blood and the body of another woman in the kitchen. Nick lay with his head deep in the pillow, trying to take it all in. The last thing he wanted right now was to get up again.

"Ok... I'll be there as soon as possible." He said, and hung off.

"Crap..." he muttered and sighed darkly. The bed was becoming more and more warm and comfortable by the second, one last pause, before he fumbled for the lamp switch beside him.

Juliette was asleep next to him, and the sudden brightness made her stir as Nick half-fell out of bed and started looking for some clean clothes, muttering to himself, "Boxers... boxers... clean boxers"

"Sweetie, you ok?" he heard her murmur.

"Yeah, fine... I've gotta go to work, they found a body." He replied, pulling off his dirty t-shirt and underwear and wrestling his sleepy body into the clean stuff he'd found on the chair. Even if it wasn't super clean, nobody was going to care, not at this hour. Behind him he heard the rustling of sheets as Juliette sat up.

"It's just past 2am" she said softly, "you gonna be ok? Do you want me to make you some coffee?"

Nick smiled to himself, as he pulled on the cleanest pair of socks within reach, she was so sweet but part of him doubted that any sort of coffee was going to make him feel any better. Only sleep would do that.

"No, I'll be fine, you go back to sleep" He leant over and kissed her gently, "I'll see you later."

"Ok, keep safe" a pause as she snuggled back under the duvet, "I love you."

"I love you too" He looked back as he left the room, she looked so peaceful lying there, it made him smile again while the rest of his heart looked longingly as the space in the bed that should be his. With a deep sigh, Nick headed down the stairs, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and running his fingers through his hair.

It was going to be a long night!

... ... ...

Half an hour later he arrived in the neighbourhood that Wu had directed him too. It was a nice area, with large houses lining the street, each with manicured lawns and neat white fences. It looked like something out of a catalogue or off the television and it probably would have felt slightly eerie if it wasn't for the one house ablaze in light, flashing blue sirens and the collection of police cars and ambulances congregated in the middle of the street. There were officers everywhere and a large amount of police 'Crime Scene' tape and cones blocking the road ahead.

Parking the car, Nick hopped out and made his way toward the barrier, flashing his badge to get through. Seeing Hank and Wu, waiting in the middle of the congregation, he walked toward them.

"Good morning Sleeping Beauty" joked Hank, as he approached. "You took your time" Nick didn't respond, but shot him a dark look. Instead he said,

"So, what've we got?"

"Female victim, early thirties. Appears to have been shot, stabbed and maimed." Said Hank, he shuddered, "It's pretty brutal. Not something you'd expect round here!"

Nick shook his head. "What about the woman who reported it?"

"Name of Eleanor-May Thomas. Says she's a friend of the victim, claims she came over the check on her and found her dead." Hank sighed. "They've taken her away to get cleaned up and we can question her later, after we've had a look inside."

"She was covered in blood when I got here," Wu added, "Just sat on the kitchen floor next to the victim, I've never seen anything like it."

It was one of the strangest things Nick had ever heard; if you've murdered someone you don't usually call the cops and then sit around waiting for them. He voiced these thoughts to Hank as they moved towards the front door before asking,

"Any other witnesses?"

"Nope and the neighbours said they heard nothing unusual."

A moment's pause, as they climbed the steps.

"No sign of forced entry." Hank commented, as they reached the top of the porch, "Forensics says none of the doors have been touched, which suggests that the killer was known to the victim. Doesn't look good for Ms Thomas"

They moved inside, the light was bright in here, it seemed like the teams had turned on every bulb in the place. Nick paused and looked around, he suspected the house would have been lovely if it wasn't slightly trashed.

There was broken glass on the floor from what looked like a smashed vase and a picture frame or two. As they walked further through, there was an upended coffee table in a corner.

"Looks like there's been a domestic problem here" he commented as they reached the kitchen. The damage was worse here, shattered plates and bowls everywhere; it looked like anything that could have been thrown had been. "Does anyone else live here?"

"Well the house belongs to a Mr and Mrs Tom Steiner. Assuming the victim is Mrs Steiner that just leaves Mr." Hank commented, "But they found no other bodies."

"Well I guess it's early yet" Nick said, offhand, but part of him was already thinking that Tom Steiner was most likely not here. Innocent or not, he was probably far away by now.

The body lay on the floor, already covered, but Nick adjusted it to look.

One glance told him everything. Hank was right, this was brutal. The only part of her not damaged was her face, which he could see had been beautiful. Nick sighed and part of him knew that this hadn't been a quick death, it had been slow and painful and that made him angry. Who would do this to such a lovely woman?

Standing up, he looked around and glanced around spying the Captain at the back of the room, talking to one of the forensic team. It had to be pretty serious for Captain to be out and about.

"Well I guess it's back to the office then." He said, softly. "I think we need to question Eleanor-May as soon as possible, while the memory is still..." he searched for a better word than the one he'd first thought of... no good, it was still too early, "...fresh"

Hank smiled darkly, "Not a good choice of words my friend." Shaking his head he began to wind his way back through the house, "and now we have another long day."

... ... ...

Back at the precinct, sometime later and armed with coffee and baked goods (thank goodness for all-night stores) Nick and Hank arrived at their desks, readier to get to work. Wu had been back for a while, and had pulled them as many files as possible in the short time available, relating to the Steiner family and to the mysterious Eleanor-May Thomas.

It was nearly half-four, but that meant nothing. Captain had ordered as much to be done as soon as possible. The medical team had said that Ms Thomas was quite distressed and Captain had said the sooner they got the first round of questions over with the better, then they could focus on getting her any help she might need. The medics had said they would bring her in soon so that gave them a few minutes to read as much as they could.

Nick sat down and stared at the pile of information in front of him. His head was starting to swim a bit and the letters were looking a little blurry, this would teach him to go to bed or at least sleep a little earlier. Hank was saying something and it brought him back round quickly,

"... confirmed as a Mrs Cindy Steiner, preliminary cause of death includes multiple fractures including skull, punctured lung, ruptured arteries and further internal bleeding." Hank paused and Nick could see him shudder slightly out of the corner of his eye, "Damn that's nasty, I wonder who would want to do that much damage?"

Nick shrugged and picked up the paper in front of him,

"Says here that there have been previous calls to the police for domestic issues. Apparently various neighbours, including Eleanor-May have made calls for domestic violence against Tom Steiner. Claims of violence and violent threats made against his wife" He paused, "If Eleanor-May Thomas had been trying to protect Cindy Steiner, why would she kill her?"

"Who knows?" Said Hank, "Maybe she went after the husband but got the wrong victim?"

Another pause.

"Maybe Cindy tried to protect her husband?" Hank added. "Even if he abused her, she might have still loved him..."

"Maybe..." Nick shook his head, this was messed up. Domestic violence cases were never easy to work, 9 times out of 10 they never resolved well.

For a short while, they mulled over the papers, trying to pull some information together but they couldn't get much. Despite the domestic abuse calls, Tom Steiner had never been charged and had no priors. They had a son together, aged 9, but he hadn't been in the house. As far as anyone was aware he was staying with his grandmother in Pasadena.

They department was trying to trace Tom Steiner's car, it had been found missing from the house but nobody had pulled it up yet anywhere in the State. It was a question of waiting.

Their thoughts were disturbed by the appearance of the medical team, bringing with them Ms Thomas for questioning. Nick looked up and watched as they brought her in.

She was a petite, slim woman, with golden curls and little black rimmed glasses. She looked like she had been crying, her eyes were still red and there were streaks of mascara on the skin where her tears had caused it to run. Dressed in cleaner clothes, it was obvious she had been cleaned up and most likely her original clothes sent to forensics, just in case there was anything on them.

Nick rose out of his chair, waving his hand to Hank to sit down with a murmur of "Don't worry, I've got it" and followed them into the nearest room, gesturing for the woman to sit down. She did, almost gladly and Nick could see that she was on the verge of tears again as he seated himself opposite her.

She's stressed and tired, he thought to himself, very likely that she's probably verging on emotional wreck.

"Don't worry," he repeated, this time to her, "this won't take long." Looking up he realised she had massive green eyes, and they were watching him intently.

"Your name is Eleanor-May Thomas."

She nodded.

"And you live 675 Waddington Drive, five doors from Cindy Steiner."

She nodded again, a single tear sliding down her cheek.

"How did you know Mrs Steiner?"

There was a pause, and he could hear her breathing heavily.

"Cindy-Lou... I called her Cindy-Lou... I've known her since I was 14 years old... she's like my sister, my best friend... please detective..." She said softly, more tears starting to fall, "I wouldn't kill her... I loved her so much... I just went round to check on her..." the tears were more violent now and she was starting to sob softly, "she wouldn't answer the phone, I had had to check... I knew something..." she looked up at Nick again, who gazed back at her, beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"Please detective..." it was almost like begging, "...you have to believe me... you have too.." her voice trailed off as the sobs became heavier, then in one split second he saw it.

Her face aged dramatically, blonde hair replaced by silver and a voice that croaked and cracked, eyes even wider with the green gone, replaced by an almost clear grey-blue. In a second she looked like the oldest person he'd ever seen. She gasped and coughed and Nick realised that she knew that he could see her for what she truly was. Nick's eyes widened and he sat back, startled. He hadn't expected this, he never did.

Another Wesen.

But nothing he'd ever seen before.

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><p><em>Welly well well then what's a Grimm to do - especially with a new Wesen popping up. Will he find what he needs in the trailer or will it be down to everyone's favorite blutbad to lend a helping hand? I hope you liked it, more action to come I promise. Finally; please review! x <em>


	3. Chapter 3 Gute Fee

_As I am so deeply procrastinating working on my papers for university (I have 3 x 4000 word essays to do) I wrote a bit more. It seems a little ironic to me that in less than two hours I can write more words for this than I already have for my Victorian fiction paper, but never mind. Maybe if it wasn't quite so boring I'd have done more work, anyway I digress._

_Thankies for my reviews. It's nice to see what people think. And now tis time for the appearance of Monroe. I did want to put him in the last one but I couldn't seem to wangle it -_-_

_Side note C: I do not own Grimm *sigh* but some of this is the product of my imagination._

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><p>Nick bolted from the office as soon as possible. The questioning hadn't ended well, mostly with tears and alot of distress on the witness side, he'd left Hank clearing up and checking through her alibi. There was something more important he had to do.<p>

It was a little after half five and there was a faint golden glow beginning to appear on the horizon as he slammed the car door and made his way through the deserted city. There was never any traffic around this time of the morning; it was still a little early for the early risers and too late for the night owls. Nick sped along the roads, driving almost on auto-pilot as his mind worked furiously.

Another Wesen, a new one as well. This time he had no clue, although it seemed to be often the case. Perhaps, he thought as he headed out of town towards the trailer park, it would be worth sneaking one of the books home for late night reading although he wasn't sure how he'd explain it to Juliette.

As he reached the trailer park, he slowed and passed through the barrier, making his way across the uneven surface to Aunt Marie's, hoping that it would give him some help.

Not that he knew where to start. There were so many books, some just labelled for one creature but as he didn't know what to look for he pulled a pile off the nearest shelf and, seating himself at the table, and started to trawl through the seemingly endless pages.

After nearly two hours, the search had yielding nothing and the collection of books and scrap papers was now piled on either side of him or the surrounding floor. Nick's head ached, so did his eyes and there was a feeling of frustration rising inside of him. Muttering darkly to himself, he grabbed another book and nearly slammed it down on the table.

Please, let this one have something.

And to his surprise it did. Not much, but anything was better than nothing. A small sketch on one page near the back, depicting a very old woman incredibly similar to the one Eleanor-May had become, with four words scribbled haphazardly underneath it.

_Geschenkgeber oder Gute Fee._

Oder meant Or, he knew that, so that meant this Wesen had two names. Scanning the next page and flicking to the next, he looked for further information but alot of the text was German, and his grasp of the language still wasn't that strong. This only left him one option. At this hour Nick knew the welcome wouldn't be very warm. Still it couldn't be helped, Monroe was the only one who could help him. The Blutbad's Wesen knowledge seemed incredulously expansive, there was a chance he'd know something, or at least be able to point Nick in the right direction. Nick knew time was of the essence. They were in the middle of a brutal homicide investigation here and the only witness and suspect that they had so far was most likely emotionally unstable. There was no other option, Nick reasoned, as he closed the trailer door behind him, clicking the key in the lock and tucking it back into his pocket.

The sun was half risen now, light returning to the world, bringing with it what looked like another nice spring day as the detective's car meandered through the trailer park and back towards the main road.

At least at Monroe's there might be a chance of a decent cup of coffee.

**... ... ... **

Unlike Nick, Monroe had not been up since the small hours. Instead he'd gotten up as normal, exercised and was just in the process of making coffee. The whole kitchen now smelt of rich, freshly ground coffee beans. The aroma alone was invigorating.

He was just pouring himself a cup, and thinking about what he had to do (not much really, although there was that new job he'd just received, he could make a start on that), when there was a loud hammering on his door.

The Blutbad sighed and rolled his eyes. It didn't take a genius to figure out who would be at the door this early in the morning. Especially because this was not polite knocking, this was 'answer-this-door-right-now" hammering, combined with the cry of,

"Monroe... Monroe open up. I need to ask you something."

Did Nick honestly have no respect for his life or privacy? On second thoughts, he mused making his way to the door, that question was probably better left unanswered. Through the stained glass panel, he could see Nick standing there fidgeting around, looking at his watch anxiously as he waited.

Monroe swung the door and before it was even full open, the Grimm darted inside.

"Good morning to you too." Said Monroe, slightly snidely. Not that he minded Nick coming to him for help, but it would be nice if he could show up at reasonable hours, or at least warn him so he could get dressed. He had to admit he felt a little awkward stood around in his Pilates garb.

"Sorry," came the answer, almost a little sheepishly. "I need you're help, we've got a case and a new one's popped up..." there was a pause as the detective ran his fingers through his hair. Monroe knew by 'one' he meant a new Wesen and probably would have said something if it wasn't for the state of the him. Monroe wondered if the young man had actually slept, because it sure as hell didn't look like it.

"It's ok man, come on through" Monroe gestured for Nick to follow him into the kitchen and without thinking he poured and handed the Grimm a cup of coffee.

"Thanks," a pause, Monroe waited for Nick to say something, it looked as if Nick is trying to find another way to start the conversation, as if he felt pleasantries should come first.

"What do you know about Gute Fee?"

Maybe not. Monroe smiled and nodded,

"Ahhh Geschenkgeber."

"Yeah the book had two names written in it, but nothing else."

"That's not surprising. They're known as Geschenkgeber, it means gift giver, but when people started writing stories they became Gute Fee..." he paused, Nick was looking at him blankly,

"Fairy Godmothers" the Blutbad added, "They're not technically fairies, like I said they're gift givers, they like making people happy."

Nick nodded and sipped the coffee, it helped a little. Monroe took the silence as a signal to continue,

"They're usually the 'Good' ones; you know sweet, happy, friendly, which is probably why you don't have much on them; they tend to be a pretty harmless lot."

The detective looked up sharply, there was concern written all over his face,

"Pretty harmless? Would they kill anyone?"

Monroe's face wrinkled slightly as he considered it before he smiled,

"Not likely. I mean I couldn't say for all of them, but the ones I've known, no." He paused to refill his coffee, "Like I said they're the nice ones. It's almost a little sickly sometimes" and he chuckled softly to himself.

Nick was confused, if this Eleanor-May was a Geschenkgeber and they were as nice as Monroe said, then why would she commit such a brutal murder, especially on someone she claimed to be so close to. He shook his head and focused on something else Monroe had mentioned,

"Have you known alot of them?"

"Well a few," came the reply, "When I was a kid there was a family of them who lived just across the road from us. I knew they're kid pretty well, she wasn't much younger than me, but we got pretty close. Her whole family was really nice, her mum made the best pancakes." He paused, remembering and then added quietly, off hand.

"Little Ellie, I haven't seen her in years..."

In his mind Monroe could see her now, when they were ten, building a fort in his back yard with Freddy from two doors down, dressed as Cowboys and Indians. Ellie with her mass of blonde hair, stuck with feathers and round glasses, giggling furiously as they tried to raid next doors' garden...or when they were fifteen and just going into high school and someone tried to grab her, and he'd broken the guy's nose without a second thought. There had been blood everywhere and he'd gotten detention for a month, probably just missing out on suspension if everyone hadn't backed him up still nobody ever bothered them after that... And the summer a year later when they would all spend every day in the woods, by the lake, sitting on the huge flat rocks that surrounded it. Freddy trying to fish and failing because he was clumsy and Ellie, dangling her feet in the water in her little denim shorts, always smiling and her massive green eyes lighting up ... and that time he'd thrown her right into the middle of the water because she'd made fun of his hair. He didn't think he'd ever laughed as much. She'd spent the rest of the day in a blue bikini, waiting for her clothes to dry out. Monroe smiled to himself. That was probably when he first thought of her as a girl, till then she'd been more of a sister... and after that when...

He heard Nick start to ask him a question and he was jolted from his memories,

"Sorry, what?" he asked,

"Ellie... is that short for anything?" Nick replied, trying to sound relaxed, his hand gripping the coffee cup tighter, because surely there was no chance that it was the same person. Things like that didn't happen in real life. Still what were the chances of there being two Ellie's, both Godmothers and, he figured, roughly the right age, not that the one in custody looked as old as Monroe.

"Yeah, Eleanor-May, named after her grandmother or something, she hated it but she put up with it because it was just who she was..." he looked up at Nick and noticed the growing alarm spreading across the detective's face. "I'm probably going to regret asking this but why?" he added tentatively,

"Because," the detective sighed, " if her name is Eleanor-May Thomas, then she's currently the lead suspect in a murder investigation."

There was a crashing sound as Monroe dropped his coffee mug in shock but he didn't seem to notice, he was staring at the young man, eyes wide. Nick tried to search around for something to say, that didn't sound stupidly obvious,

"Is it the same woman?" he said, it wasn't quite the question he'd wanted but he noticed Monroe had nodded slightly,

"Maybe... I know she married a guy called Eric Thomas..." the clockmaker paused, "I went to the wedding..."

Nick wondered if a photo would help, there was one his phone. There was an app for everything these days and Portland PD had created one to let detectives pull up pictures and files on the go. Quickly he searched through and found the picture from her driving license and handed the phone over.

"Think this might be her?"

Monroe studied it, peering at the image. There she was in front of him; exactly the same, looking no older than 25. Almost reluctantly he found himself nodding.

"Yeah, that's her. She looks pretty much the same as when I last saw her." He smiled, "Geschenkgeber age pretty well, unlike the rest of us." Another pause then the question Nick was dreading, "Who'd she kill?"

Nick knew he couldn't tell him, that was police information only, but as his mind was thinking this he could hear his mouth saying,

"A Cindy Steiner."

Monroe's fist clenched and he shook his head violently.

"No, I can tell you now man, you've got the wrong person. Ellie would never have killed Cindy, they've known each other since middle-school. Ellie was practically Cindy's personal Godmother. She was never a violent person."

In his memories, Cindy was there too, always at the side. A shy girl, a little younger who clung to Ellie like nothing he'd ever seen. He remembered Ellie saying she had a tough time at home, something about an abusive mother... he had a sharp recollection of Cindy with a black eye, cut lip and a dislocated wrist... remembering how angry he'd been, almost wild, vowing to hurt and maim whoever was responsible and Ellie crying, begging him not to do anything stupid. After that Cindy had practically lived with Ellie.

He'd forgotten that. Sadness and anger washed over him and a single tear formed in his eye. He blinked and hoped Nick hadn't noticed. There was a silence as both men contemplating what had happened, lost in their own thoughts. Monroe realised his foot was damp and looked down to see the remains of the coffee mug and its contents seeping across the floor. With a grumble, he began searching for something to clean it up with, bending down to collect the shards.

Nick put his mug on the side and checked his watch, it was time to get back to the office, he'd been gone far too long and the excuses were getting thinner. In his mind, he was inclined to agree with Monroe. From what he'd seen, he didn't think Ellie was likely to have done it, but he couldn't base a case on personal opinion.

"Well... thanks." He said as he turned to leave, "If there's anything else I'll give you a call." Monroe looked up from cleaning to see the detective disappearing and heard the door close behind him, shaking his head. Just hearing Ellie's name again was bringing up all sorts of memories, mostly the good ones. If he was honest with himself, he'd had a pretty good childhood. Unlike some; Cindy was probably the one person who hadn't deserved any form of horrible death.

Picking up the last few remains of pottery, he stood up and wondered to himself; would it madness to try and see Ellie again? They hadn't spoken in six years or so, not even a Christmas card... come to think of it he couldn't even remember why they'd stopped talking in the first place.

Dropping the shards and dirty cloth in the bin, he made his way back into the lounge. Maybe he would take a wander downtown, although perhaps a shower and clean clothes would be best first.

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><p>People may think I'm a little obsessed with coffee. Actually I very rarely drink it but I've found I adore the smell of black coffee and ground coffee. Not quite sure why though.<p>

Anyway, please review. At the rate my procrastination is continuing there will be more soon!

On a final note: Have a Happy Easter and eat lots of chocolate ^_^ x


	4. Chapter 4 An Unexpected Visitor

_Wow this is the longest chapter I've written yet! It's not a super action packed one but things do happen, it's almost setting up a bit more of the story. I've based part of it on the relationship I have with my friend Chris, he is practically my brother, just not one I'm actually related too. _

_By the way D Squirrel - coincidentally I work in a grocery story part time and I love stocking the coffee aisle or working in our coffee shop; the smell is amazing!_

_Thankies again to everyone who's reading, reviewing and adding this story to their watch/favorites list - it makes me supremely happy and inspires me; so thank you so much xx_

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><p>Later that morning Nick and Hank stood in front of Renard's desk, attempting to explain everything they'd managed to find in the past few hours, with a few obvious exceptions. Through all the searching that Hank had done, it seemed that Ellie's alibi was definitely plausible.<p>

"I checked with the phone company, it seems that Mrs Thomas made 16 calls to the Steiner's home number in three and a half hours, plus the record shows she made at least another 5 to Mrs Steiner's personal mobile." Hank explained, "and even though there was at least an hour between when Mrs Thomas said she found the body and when the police were called, according to the autopsy, Cindy Steiner had mostly likely been dead for between 1 and 2 hours before she was found."

The Captain nodded as he listened, his face serious and no sign on emotion registering on it. Nick admired the way he could sit and listen, calm and collected, making a rational judgement on all he heard. There was never any emotional involvement, not that he didn't care, but he was totally rational, able to separate emotion in a heartbeat. It was probably one of the reasons he was so good at his job.

"What about the husband's car?"

"We're still looking, we put patrols out across the state and put the word out to other districts. It's just waiting for someone to pull him in." Nick added, that's what it was now just a waiting game, they were always found eventually, "If he is hiding, then no doubt he'll make a mistake."

"At the moment, he's the only other lead we have and the fact he's tried to disappear doesn't look good for him." Hank's face was serious as he suggested this. In Nick's opinion though, it was the only plausible line they had at the moment.

More nodding from Renard, slow and grave, before he spoke again.

"Well it seems that we currently have no evidence to hold Mrs Thomas in custody. Release her and tell her if we have any more questions we'll be in touch and if she thinks of anything else to give us a call." The Captain's voice was calm, "Standard procedures apply. If forensics pulls up anything we can have her back in, the longer we keep her here the more it might just wind her up and any lawyer will call emotional trauma." And with this he waved them out of his office, leaning back into his dark chair.

**... ... ... ... **

Monroe had waited outside the precinct for nearly an hour before he saw her. By then he was beginning to get restless. Generally he was a patient man, recent years of strict personal discipline and his profession had instilled in him a good sense of it, but now the instinct inside him was restless. It hated waiting.

Having parked the car a block or so away he'd walked as close as seemed appropriate, so he could see the doors and had waited. It had seemed a good enough plan at the time, but after a while it was bordering on ridiculous.

This is stupid, he thought to himself, she could have already been and gone.

Monroe growled to himself. He did not like feeling stupid either.

Five more minutes, and then he would go. It had been a stupid plan anyway. Mentally he was admonishing himself when looking up, there was a flash of recognition as a figure exited the building.

There she was. Still petite and slim with a mass of golden hair, but this time there was no smile. Walking quickly with his head down, he crossed the road and began to walk towards her. Please let this work, was the next thought, I really don't want to look ridiculous.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her walk past him. With a quick turn he raised his head,

"Ellie?" he said, trying to feign that tone of voice commonly used by people when they spot someone they haven't seen in a while. She must have recognised his voice because she paused and turned to see who it was and Monroe almost did a double-take. Despite the fact her eyes were still red from crying she looked exactly the same as when he'd last seen her six years ago, in fact the same as she had when they'd been 25, younger maybe. He knew her kind aged slowly but it hadn't prepared him for how young she really would still look, compared to him.

The clockmaker watched as her eyes flashed with recognition, widening and a smile spreading across her face, lighting it up.

"Eddie?" she came closer to him, almost beaming now but there was something sad still lingering in her eyes, not that Monroe was surprised. What was a surprise was to be called Eddie again, hardly anyone called him that anymore. "Oh my God it's really you... I can't believe it..." There was genuine joy on her face now and it made Monroe smile, "How are you?"

"Yeah... not bad," Monroe hadn't factored in just how awkward it might be, "hey, I'm sorry about Cindy... I really am."

"Thanks."

An awkward pause. Really awkward. Where do you start after six years? Especially when someone's been murdered.

"I didn't know you lived in Portland, I wish I'd known but I didn't have any sort of address" Ellie said, "What're you up to these days?"

"Yeah sorry ... ummm... I fix clocks, clock making, that sort of thing, what about you?"

"Umm... I run a small bakery downtown... its errr... its..." was she blushing slightly? "It's called the 'Happily Ever After Bakery'... really cheesy I know..." an embarrassed laugh and a short pause, "How're you and Angelina?"

"We split up... a couple of years ago"

At once Ellie looked really embarrassed, gazing down at her feet sheepishly, the smile fading.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know"

"It's ok, it was a long time ago. What about you and umm... Eric?" Monroe added, trying to be polite.

"Mmmm" was the response, clearly she didn't want to talk about it because she changed the subject.

"I hear you're all straight now, that's good... by the way did you know one of the detectives is a Grimm? Not that you need to be worried now though..."

"Errr, yeah I did actually."

Man this was awkward. They'd been such good friends and now they were just exchanging pleasantries in the middle of the street, how had it come to this?

"Well ... it was good seeing you again" Ellie said softly,

Time for the shot in the dark, Monroe thought. Taking a deep breath he said,

"Hey, before you go would you like to get a drink? Coffee maybe..."

It was like being an awkward teenager again, trying to ask some pretty girl out on a date. He looked at her and she smiled again, but sadly.

"I'm sorry ... I really ought to get some stuff sorted... and I just need to think right now..."

"Yeah it's understandable."

"But... umm... do you have a phone number? I mean would it be ok if I gave you a call sometime?"

"Of course," Monroe began rootling in his pockets looking for a business card, there was usually one somewhere and they had his number on it. "Here" he added, handing one over, "Do you have a pen?"

She nodded and produced one from her handbag. Turning the card over, Monroe scribbled a line of digits across the back,

"That's my cell, just in case."

"Cool, thanks." Another smile, as she transferred the card to her pocket. "Well, it was really good to see you."

"You too." And with that they parted. Monroe walked back to his car, glancing over his shoulder to watch her walk away.

That's probably the last I'll ever see of her, he thought.

But it wasn't...

**...**

It was early evening. Monroe was at home, picking delicately at the mechanisms of the latest job when there was a soft tapping on the front door. He took a deep breath and exhaled, thinking that once again his life was being intruded upon by an all too enthusiastic Grimm but it wasn't until he'd set down his tools and was making his way to the door when he realised two things.

Firstly that the knock on the door was too light, not nearly demanding enough and had not been followed up with further knocking or a voice.

Secondly, the Blutbad realised, that it didn't smell like Nick. Whoever it was had a softer sweeter scent, like powdered sugar.

Opening the front door he found a familiar face looking up at him from the doorstep.

"Ellie... Hi?"

"Hey... sorry, hope you don't mind me dropping in on you like this."

"Yeah, I mean no it's fine..." utterly confused he added, "How did you get here?"

"Oh... err well I looked it up in the phone book... you were the only E. Monroe with this number so ummm, yeah... sorry..." Ellie looked embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I hope I'm not disturbing you."

Monroe shook his head, not quite believing what was going. First they didn't see each other in six years and now twice in one day, with her turning up at his front door. He was just starting to consider the chances of this happening when something inside him snapped back to reality,

"No not really don't worry... come on in."

"Thanks" she smiled and almost bounced inside, she seemed a little happier now than she had that morning. It was then he realised she was clutching what looked like grocery bags. Ellie must have noticed him looked because she blushed and stammered slightly,

"I thought that instead of a drink I could make you dinner... if you don't mind... I mean..."

Monroe had to stop himself laughing. This was so typical of Ellie, always thinking of someone else. Refuse someone a drink and in return make them dinner, no matter how you felt. He was sure she'd done something similar in high school, when someone asked her on a date she baked them cupcakes as a way of saying sorry for refusing; talk about a mixed message.

"Really," he took the bags off her, without thinking about it too much, "It's fine" he added, and she followed him through to the kitchen, looking around.

"It's a really nice place you've got..." she stopped, peering at one of the clocks, childish wonder on her face, "this is beautiful..."

Monroe glanced at the piece and nodded with a smile, it was one of his favourites.

"That's an antique bracket clock circa 1780 made by John Taylor of London. I got for a very good deal at auction because it needed some work, it's got eight day duration, five pillar two train fusee movement with verge escapement and striking and repeating..." he trailed off when he realised Ellie was looking at him with a polite but confused smile.

"Cool," she said nodding, adding "I may not understand what that means but it's really lovely."

"Thanks" Monroe added, slightly gruffly. He was embarrassed but not quite sure why.

Through in the kitchen he watched her unpack the bags, slightly amazed at the variety of food that seemed to come out of them and, he noted with an inner smile, a couple of bottles of wine.

"So this is dinner and a drink?" he joked, picking up one of the bottles to examine it.

"Yeah, they're the sweetner. In case you didn't want to let me in!" came the reply, followed by a soft giggle. "By the way am I right in thinking you're vegetarian now?"

Monroe nodded, still examining the bottles and the rest of the contents of the bag including

"Chocolate pudding?"

"Huh? Oh yeah... you can't have dinner without dessert right?"

Monroe nodded again, more slowly this time, not really wanting to mention he was on a strict diet but she seemed to read it in his face because she added,

"One chocolate pudding will not kill you!" and smiled again, "So it'll be vegetarian carbonara, chocolate pudding and a glass of wine then." The tone of her voice made it sound final. Well as final as she could make it.

"Now, just one question?"

"Which would be?"

"Where do you keep the pots?"

**...**

Some time later, when the food had been eaten and the wine had been started Monroe found himself sat on the sofa with Ellie one cushion over.

He felt full and comfortable, and maybe a little fuzzy headed... how much wine had they had now?

Throughout the evening he'd watched her relax more through the conversation, which had began to flow more easily again. Not that they'd talked about anything specific, just little things that you talk about with friends. Little details you share when you haven't seen someone in a while. Ellie hadn't wanted to do much sharing, not about her life. She talked about Cindy and how close they'd still been, how she'd seen her every day and how close she was with their son. Once or twice she looked like she was about to cry, but somehow she didn't. It seemed like she was trying to suppress any negative emotion.

In return Monroe told her about Nick. It didn't seem logical to hide anything. He knew he could trust her and the more they talked the more it felt like old times. At first she'd seemed worried and as best he could, Monroe had tried to explain everything that had happened, although he found himself skimming over some parts like the existence of the trailer and the reappearance of Angelina...

"It's such a shame it didn't work out between you two," Ellie interjected softly, "I thought that one was going to be forever... what happened?"

"It just wasn't working," came the reply as he tried to find the words to explain it, "I just couldn't do it anymore"

"I know how you feel..." Ellie added, softly almost to herself. Monroe looked at her confused, waiting for her to elaborate but she didn't, she just sat there staring down at her socks as her hands gripped the cushion. There was a silence until she looked across at him and smiled,

"Hey I was just thinking, do you remember that time we went to Alice Booth's Halloween party when we 16?"

Monroe tried to remember, but found his brain had slowed down a bit. Then it dawned on him... oh man he really didn't want to remember that,

"Was that the fancy dress one?" he asked, tentatively.

"Yup," came the reply, "The fairy tale one"

"We should never have gone to that party. We should have known it would be a mistake."

"Yeah but we were teenagers. Ok pretty stupid teenagers to be fair but who isn't stupid at that age?"

Monroe nodded and sighed, it was a fair enough statement.

"I still can't believe what you did to me" he added, jokingly as an embarrassed smile crept across his face.

"Awww but you looked so cute, plus I was the only one in on the joke" and she stuck her tongue out at him and in return he found himself poking her in the ribs. The old revenge. It worked because she squeaked loudly and almost curled up defensively. She had always been very ticklish.

"Still did you have to make me wear the ears?"

Monroe remembered the party better now. He'd had no idea what to wear, he was just going to go in jeans and a shirt until Ellie had turned up with a bag and produced, to her delight and his embarrassment a pair of large furry ears and paws, along with an eyeliner, a hairbrush and hairspray...

"Yup... you made the best big bad wolf I've ever seen" she replied, having retreated to the other end of the sofa. "Everyone else thought so." That was true, although he remember his utter humiliation when she'd taken him out the house and his mother and brother had seen in. From his brother at least there had been howls of laughter and derision. It was only the fact that Ellie was his friend, almost like a sister, that had prevented him from getting seriously angry.

"I've still got a photo somewhere." she added, "Of us all in costume."

"Yeah I remember it being taken, by the way" he said, his tone slowing, "you do remember what happened when we got there?"

"Oh yes." She sighed and then began to laugh "It was kinda funny when you look back on it."

It hadn't been at the time. Alice, the girl hosting had appeared dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, with a red cape, with red shorts underneath a ridiculously short skirt. It was asking for trouble really. Especially when there was a male teenage Blutbad in the room; a wild mix of hormones and instinct. It wasn't a good combination. Monroe nearly went mad and it took a good deal of restraining to stop anything happening. But now they were older, it was a little funny, especially because they hadn't seen quite how serious it could have been.

Monroe chuckled. They really had been stupid kids.

"Hey do you remember when we took you to that fair when we were..what 14?" he added, this time it was Ellie's turn to be embarrassed.

"Yeah, that was time I threw up over everyone wasn't it?" she said, sheepishly.

"Yes it was. All over Freddy to be precise." The for good measure he added, "Then I actually had to carry you home over my shoulder." Not that she'd been heavy, but it had been pretty funny. He was sure he had a photo of that somewhere.

They'd been allowed to go, by themselves to the local fair one evening and had thus eaten anything they could get their hands on; hotdogs, popcorn, candyfloss, nachos, some dodgy looking chilli dogs, ice cream, because there were no parents to stop them. Then they had ridden the spinners, twice, and a couple of roller coasters. Thinking about it now, that had been a stupid idea too. Ellie had vomited everywhere, including all over Freddy and had then nearly passed out and had to be carried back to her parents. Man they had been angry!

The pair of them laughed as they reminisced. It was nice to remember so many good times.

They hardly noticed the passing of time as the stories flowed, along with a little more of the wine. It was nearly 1am when Monroe noticed a clock chime and glanced at the nearest piece to check. By now Ellie was sat right next to him, almost cuddled up, her head resting on his shoulder and yawning more frequently.

"It's 1am" he said softly, and Ellie nodded,

"Mmm and I can't stop yawning. I have no stamina anymore." And there was a pause, Monroe looked down and realised she was practically asleep on his shoulder.

"You better stay here tonight." He added, "You can't drive home like this."

"huh? Ok... thanks"

Monroe got up and went upstairs, leaving the sleepy Godmother on his couch as he went to find her a couple of pillows and a blanket. When he returned down the stairs, she was sat up smiling sleepily at him.

"You sure this is ok?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Sorry it's only a couch, I don't have a spare room" came the reply,

"No its fine, thanks again." Taking the blankets and pillows she laid them out on the sofa and watched him as he turned to go back upstairs,

"Hey Eddie," she added and he paused and turned. She padded lightly across the room and came right up to him, barely reaching up to his shoulder, and put her arms around him giving him a hug, "Thanks again, for everything" and with that she reached up, standing on tiptoe and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Goodnight."

Both actions surprised him; he wasn't used to hugs or kisses.

A few minutes later, when he lay in bed, Monroe found himself staring at the ceiling, part of him wondering how he now had another houseguest. Still, he thought, it was good to see her again.

* * *

><p><em>So another person intruding on poor Monroe. I really feel for him, what have I done to him? I know exactly how awkward it is to bump into people you haven't seen in ages... Anyway please keep readingreviewing etc. xx_


	5. Chapter 5 Surprises at Breakfast

_Hi there everyone ^_^ I know it's been a while, for me anyway, but I finally had to bite the bullet and do my Victorian~ism paper *sigh* but now tis done and I can concentrate on lovely fanfiction again!_

_Many, many thanks for all the reviews, following and adds as a favorite story. It absolutely touches my heart and makes me happy. I admit I get really nervous about what people might think but the support makes me smile, so thank you again and please continue to support me with reading and reviews!_

_On a random side note, the cupcakes that appear in here are real. They sell them in my uni coffee shop and yes the Oreo ones are that good!_

_Another side note: I don't own Grimm but I do own a few bits._

* * *

><p>When he awoke the next morning, it took Monroe a few minutes before he remembered what had happened the previous evening. Lying there, the realisation that there was now somebody sleeping on his couch re-entered his still sleepy mind. Clambering out of bed, he reached for the old checked dressing gown hanging on the back of the door. It didn't get that much use, there was never anyone around in his house and so he could dress as he saw fit, still it probably wasn't appropriate to wander round in front of guests in a shirt and boxers.<p>

Just as his brain was beginning to engage a strange smell came wiggling under the door. Opening in the soft smelling of cooking engulfed him. Someone was making pancakes. Possibly French Toast as well... with cinnamon. And considering there was only one more person in this house, unless Nick had turned up again (and let's face it he never made breakfast), there was only one person it could be.

I am gonna get so fat if she stays here, the Blutbad reflected as he followed the enticing smells down the stairs, picking up the soft unfamiliar strains of humming coming from his kitchen.

The blankets on the couch had been neatly folded, he noted, shuffling through towards the smell of pancakes... and coffee. She'd made coffee too.

However when he stuck his nose around the kitchen wall, his jaw nearly dropped a couple of inches.

The whole thing was spotless despite the fact he was sure they'd left a couple of dishes on the side last night. There were pancakes on the stove and a plate half full next to them complete with a bottle of syrup, another pan cooking next to it with the cinnamon French Toast in and on the side there were a couple of glasses of juice, a cafetiere of freshly made coffee and what looked like a bowl of fresh fruit salad. Where had half this stuff come from anyway? Monroe didn't think he even owned any syrup.

Maybe I should ask her to move in, he thought with wide eyes, especially if I get breakfast like this every morning.

It was then he realised that his house guest was stood, with her back to him, humming gently and searching through a cupboard wearing nothing but a white vest top and very pink panties.

"Oh man, do you have no shame?" he said and Ellie, who obviously hadn't heard him coming, turned to see him with a face that was as pink as her underwear.

Oh God, why? Monroe felt himself starting to go a little red as he realised she probably wasn't wearing anything underneath the vest.

"Ooops... sorry" came the sheepish reply, as Monroe tried to find somewhere else in the room to look so he didn't look like some sort of pervert. "I didn't figure you'd be awake this early. I was just going to make you some breakfast before I go to work. You know, to say thanks."

"That's ok" he responded, nodding and staring at a very nice patch of wall some three feet over her head.

There was a slightly awkward pause and Monroe continued to stare very hard at his piece of wall, noting a tiny chip in the paintwork. Below his head, he could hear Ellie moving things around and taking things through to the table.

"You it's ok, you can look at me. I know I'm not wearing much but you can look at my face... I just didn't really have anything else."

"Okay..."

"Honestly, I won't think you're weird."

"Well that's always good to know."

"...Anyway you've seen me in a bikini before, and less!" came her next shot, sticking her head round the wall, "I may have gotten older but I haven't changed that much, lucky for me!"

"It's just it's been a while since..."

"Since there was a woman in your house or just a half naked one?" Ellie retorted, sticking her tongue out at him.

Monroe ignored this statement. Partly because he didn't think it should be dignified with a response. Mostly because he was still not awake enough to think up a something suitably quick witted.

"Come on" she called, "It's gonna get cold."

What have you gotten yourself into now? He thought to himself, still at least Nick was not here and he could do damn well without him showing up right now. Awkward questions might arise, especially if he saw Ellie dressed as she was and that was definitely the last thing he wanted right now.

"Seriously is this just for the two of us?" slightly stunned as he seated himself at the table across from the cook, staring at the mound of food which was squeezed onto the small surface. At least it prevented him from seeing below her shoulders.

"Yeah," she sighed, "I got a bit carried away... I like cooking and I've always found that food makes others happy. " Ellie scooped a large helping of everything onto a plate and passed it across to the stunned Blutbad, "It's why I opened a bakery, that sort of stuff makes everyone smile and that's what makes me happy." She was now putting considerably less, Monroe noted, onto her own plate. She looked at him, almost concerned, "Are you ok? Is this ok?"

"Yeah, it's great. Honestly. I certainly don't get it everyday."

Ellie exhaled, giving a great sigh of a relief.

"That's good, I was afraid you'd be mad."

"At this? Why would I?" Monroe took a mouthful. It was amazing. He honestly couldn't remember when he'd had pancakes as good as these except, "But then these aren't as good as your mother's!" and smiled, gesturing at the pancakes.

The Godmother laughed,

"I know right, the old biddy is nearly 80 and she still makes better pancakes than me! Only when she's dead will I be the better cook and that's not likely to happen for a while."

For a few minutes the only sound was the clink of cutlery and contented chewing.

Having surprised himself and cleared his plate, Monroe was half considering whether it would be greedy to eat the last couple of pancakes; after all they did look kind of lonely. I really am going to get fat, he thought to himself with a smile, when Ellie nearly jump out of her skin.

"You alright?" he asked, tentatively.

"Yeah sorry, just lost in my thoughts..." another pause as she glanced at the nearest clock, "Hey I better get going, I need to drop by my house and just grab some clean clothes, I can't really go to work in my others!" With that she hopped up and dashed over to the couch, starting to pull on her jeans.

"It would be like doing a walk of shame" she added, giggling, "only without the drunken one night stand or the hot sex."

Monroe chuckled to himself, realising that he had actually eaten the extra pancakes without realising - dammit where was the self control – as he speared another piece of French Toast with a fork.

"I'm sorry for depriving you." He added,

"It's ok, I'll manage for now, at least we had wine!"

"That's true."

From the living room, he could hear her fumbling around trying to find her shoes. Maybe he should ask if she wanted to meet up again another time but before he could say anything Ellie called to him,

"Hey Eddie?"

"Yeah?"

"Would it be ok... I mean would you mind... is there anyway... I could come back tonight?" her voice trailed off, waiting for a reply.

"...sure, I guess."

"Great thanks," and in a moment a, slightly too perky for this time in the morning, Ellie reappeared and flung her arms around his shoulders, planting another kiss on his cheek, adding a fleeting "I promise to bring more food. And wine. Sorry to leave you with the dirty plates. Have a great day!" as she disappeared towards the door.

It was slightly like having a small, hyped-on-coffee tornado rush the house, the Blutbad mused. But at least she made good breakfast. Part of him wondered why she didn't want to stay at home, maybe it was just too close to Cindy's right now, or maybe she liked his company. The vague thought that he was sure she had a husband somewhere drifted through his mind, but it didn't worry him. Ellie would never hurt someone and it's not like they were having an affair.

Monroe turned his attention to the table gazing at the, now empty, pile of plates in front of him that represented the task for the next half an hour or so . Just how much had he eaten anyway?

**... ... ... **

Having caught up on a good night's sleep and now feeling infinitely better, Nick found himself back at his desk pouring over a computer.

They still had nothing.

Eleanor-May Thomas was a pretty dead end. They had no evidence to support the fact that she'd done anything wrong and right now Tom Steiner seemed to have disappeared into fresh air.

True they had found his car. It had been abandoned about 60 miles away on the edge of another small town and burnt to a crisp. The fire crews had spent nearly 5 hours trying to put the wreck out. They reckoned someone had poured about 5 gallons of fuel onto the front seats, plus an already full tank, and set light to it resulting in a fireball.

From there no one knew what had happened. There had been no body or sightings yet. From his behaviour Tom Steiner was looking guiltier by the minute in Nick's opinion and the sooner they got hold of him the better. With his history of abusive behaviour there was no telling what he would do.

In the back of his mind a niggling voice began to worry him. What if Tom went after Eleanor-May next? What if he didn't like the amount of time she spent with his wife and was blamed her for something?

He ran these thoughts past Hank who agreed,

"But what are we going to do?" his partner asked, "Do we offer her protection or just tell her to be careful? We don't want to alarm her when there might be nothing to worry about."

Nick nodded, it was a tough choice to make and he drummed his fingers on the desk as he thought.

"I'm gonna make a call" and with that he picked up the phone on the desk and opening a file, dialled the number left as Eleanor's work number.

"Happily Ever After Bakery, how can I help?" came the voice on the end, it sounded young and female but not quite the right person. Mostly likely a member of the shop staff.

"Hi there this is Detective Burkhardt, is Eleanor-May there?"

"Yeah sure, I'll just grab her." There was the sound of the phone being put on a surface and voices in the background before Nick heard someone pick up.

"Hello this is Ellie. How can I help?"

"Hi its Detective Burkhardt I was just wondering if you had a minute?" he said, trying to keep his voice even.

"Of course is there a problem?"

"We're just a little concerned as Tom Steiner hasn't turned up yet and given his history there may be a chance of him targeting you..." he paused but she didn't respond, "I'm not trying to alarm you but just asking you to be aware and if you have any concerns to please call me."

"Ok, I thought this might happen. Thanks for your concern" she sounded almost a little relieved.

"I can maybe offer you a little protection if it would make you feel safer at home unless you have someone to stay with?"

"Actually I'm staying with an old friend tonight. I'm sure he'll take good care of me. Thank you though detective. Anything else I can help you with?"

No there wasn't. Nick finished the conversation and hung up. That was good then, at least she would be safer. If, and it was only IF, Steiner did decide to target Ellie, at least he wouldn't know where to find her.

Then a thought crossed his mind. Ellie had said 'old friend' and then 'he'. I wonder, I wonder, he thought and smiled, picking up the phone and dialling another number, but this time it was one he already knew.

"Monroe" came the answer,

"Hey," said Nick, trying to not put the smirk on his face into his voice, "you wouldn't happen to have a houseguest tonight would you?"

"Why?"

"No reason... just curious." Now he was trying not to laugh.

"Ok... then maybe I do."

"It wouldn't happen to be Ellie Thomas would it?"

Silence and a slightly frustrated sigh.

"Yes it is, but I'm just helping a friend out." Answered the Blutbad, thinking to himself that Nick definitely didn't need to know she'd already stayed there one night, "I bumped into her and she asked if she could come stay because she was worried. Any problems?"

"Nope" then he paused, trying to be serious now."Just be careful, we're a little worried Cindy's husband might come after her."

"Yeah I thought so, he always was a bit of a tool. Not that I judge people of course, I'm just saying." Came the response, then he added, "By the way Nick.."

"What?"

"You really don't let me have a private life do you?"

Nick laughed, it was probably true.

**... ... ... **

When Ellie knocked on Monroe's door later that day, he found her carrying even more stuff than the previous day. Some of it he'd expected, like a little holdall with what he presumed was clothes and personal stuff. Some of it he hadn't like,

"Cupcakes?"

"As a thank you for having me." Ellie replied, pressing the lilac box into his hands.

"I thought pancakes were the thank-you." He muttered smiling as she followed him into the kitchen, because she'd brought even more food with her. Did she think he never ate?

"Go on try one. There's just four, you've got vanilla, red velvet with cream cheese icing, lemon drizzle and, my favourite, the Oreo one. It's a chocolate cupcake and then I crush Oreos up into the icing. I brought you one because you used to really like Oreos , and because they're amazing."

"You're modest." He joked, opening the box to see what she meant. The Oreo one was obvious and Monroe had to admit to himself that it did look really, really good. Honestly, he couldn't actually remember the last time he'd had cupcakes.

Ignoring the sensible part of his brain that said don't eat them, remember your diet and you won't eat your dinner, he picked it up and removed the case before taking a giant bite.

It was like a taste explosion of chocolate, sugar, butter and Oreos. He felt his eyes widen, and couldn't help a large grin spreading across his face as he chewed. Ellie watched him, smiling with eyes alight. Monroe knew what she meant when she'd said watching people be happy made her happy, especially over cupcakes.

"Oh man," he said exhaling, almost with joy, "these are better than sex!"

Then he realised what he'd said and took another bit to make himself stop talking. Ellie meanwhile burst out laughing,

"Well that's certainly a reaction I've not had before! But I'm glad you like them."

There was a ringing from her pocket, and she scooped out her phone, answering;

"Hello?"

Monroe watched as her face fell, he couldn't tell who was on the other side and couldn't hear them either but he knew it wasn't good because Ellie went ghostly white and began to shake slightly, reaching out for something to grab on to as the phone slid from her hand and clattered onto the floor. The sound seemed louder than it should, almost echoing around the room. Monroe grabbed her, holding her steady as tears began to drip down her face, without saying a word pulled her in close to his chest, wrapping his arms around her tightly as anger began rising inside him. Whoever had been on the other end of that phone had really frightened and upset her.

She looked up at him, one hand clutching at his shirt. In a single moment she seemed to go from grown woman to a terrified child. Her breathing was shaky and he could feel her heart racing she was pressed that close. Finally, she said no louder than a whisper,

"That was Tom... he says he knows where I am... he says he's going to kill me."

Monroe felt his rage grow and his eyes redden.

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><p><em>Ta-da... the next chapter will be on it's way soon-ish. Please keep up the reviews and support x<em>


	6. Chapter 6 Does it make you Happy?

_Hey there!_

_Sorry it took so long to update and I realize it's not super long, however real life (who is a cruel and heartless) snuck up behind me during the week and beat me around the head with a wet kipper! Hopefully things will start to level out soon, but in the meantime thankies for your patience and support, please continue to read and review xx. _

_Side Note: I feel I should mention this, although I think some of you will already know, if you're a fan of Grimm on Facebook and live in the US - they're running an awesome competition, check it out - makes me wish I lived in the states. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Grimm - sadly. _

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><p>Not long after he'd gotten home, Nick had come straight out again. Making his excuses of work to Juliette he'd hot footed it across town to Monroe's house in response to a call from an almost angry sounding Blutbad. Whatever it was, it could not have been good and he was right.<p>

Not long after he'd arrived he'd found himself sat opposite a shaken Ellie, who proceeded to describe the phone call from Tom Steiner, whilst Monroe paced around behind her. Nick thought it was odd, he'd never really seen the clockmaker so tense before, usually he was so laid back. It was only after he'd been told several times, by both parties, to sit down that he did.

"Did he say he knew exactly where you were?" Nick asked, slowly, remembering how overly emotional the Godmother had become at the last round of questions. Ellie nodded, but then spoke,

"Yeah but I don't see how, I mean I didn't even know Eddie was here until yesterday so I don't see how. Maybe he just thinks I'm at home..." she paused glancing at the detective and pushing her glasses up her nose, "Sorry, I'm probably being stupid."

"No you're not. I told you to call me if anything happened and this is what I meant." Nick added softly, "What else did Tom say?"

"I don't know, just that... I ..." she paused again, her eyes beginning to fill, "I was a stupid whore who'd ruined his marriage and taken Cindy away and turned her against him and now I was gonna pay if it was the last thing he did..." her voice trailed off as her eyes stared down at her feet.

Monroe let out a low growl and Nick sighed. This was exactly what they'd all be hoping wouldn't happen, but it was. This Tom Steiner was out for blood. Excusing himself, Nick stood up with phone in hand and made a few calls into to precinct, telling them what Ellie had said and trying to figure out a solution.

Behind Nick, Ellie pulled her knees up to her chest on the sofa, tucking her head down. Monroe reached out a hand to try and comfort her, resting it on her shoulder. He wasn't sure what to do, he didn't really think he was very good at comforting. Normal relationships were a bit of a mystery to him and when someone was upset, he never really knew what to say.

"Ok, we've got a plan." Nick said, tucking his phone into his pocket, a grim smile crossing his lips. Ellie looked up at him, eyes red, waiting…

"Monroe, if it's ok Ellie will stay here with you tonight," The Blutbad nodded, "We'll have a patrol come past every couple of hours and anything unusual then call 911 immediately, but we think she'll be safe here because it's not common knowledge where she is. We're also going to have a patrol stationed outside your house, if they see him then that's it! Plus we've got people trying to trace the call so we can figure out where he is."

A weak smile crossed the Godmother's face,

"Thanks. I don't mean to be such a nuisance."

Nick moved across to her and knelt down in front of the sofa, looking into her face,

"You're not a nuisance, it's my job to protect you. I promise you, you will be safe here."

Standing up, he pulled Monroe to one side under the pretence of getting something from the kitchen.

"She will be safe right?"

"Yeah sure," Monroe nodded, "I promise she's not going anywhere and," reading the detective's face added defensively, "neither am I. Plus I put another deadlock on both the front and back door. She'll be fine."

"Alright, I'll come back tomorrow and check in if that's alright?"

"You're actually giving me prior warning? Wow that's a first." Monroe added with a wry smile. Nick rolled his eyes,

"Well if you're like that I'll come back at 7am!" he added as he made his way back through to see Ellie.

Monroe watching him talking softly to her, even reaching out a hand to comfort her. Part of him wished he'd made the effort to keep in contact with her, there had obviously been something seriously dodgy going on. Maybe that's why Ellie had stayed so close all these years, to keep Cindy safe from her husband, but then why hadn't Cindy left him? He sighed to himself, the workings of relationships truly baffled him.

Soon after, the detective disappeared and the pair of them were left alone again. Ellie was sat on the sofa, with her knees still pulled up to her chest as Monroe pulled dinner out of the oven. Insisting by text that it was his turn to cook, he'd make some stuffed peppers during the day and had put them into the oven just before Ellie had turned up. He'd turned the heat right down and they might be a little overcooked but they were still edible.

Putting them on the table he glanced over at the Godmother, who turned her face towards him. Another weak smile crossed her face but it didn't spread to her still teary eyes.

"Sorry I must seem really pathetic. I'm a grown woman reduced to some crying teenager." she said softly, gently pulling herself up and moving over to the table.

"It's fine." The clockmaker replied, seating himself opposite. Neither of them said much after that, the conversation skirted round the evenings events. It was late already, and afterwards the two of them ended curled up on the sofa together, reminiscing again…

"It's funny," Ellie said softly, resting her head on his chest, "You used to terrify me when we were kids with Grimm stories, but Nick is so nice."

"Yeah, he's a good guy." Monroe added, his arm around her. "Just a little new at the whole thing. Besides," he paused, gently poking her in the ribs making her wriggle, "You used to ask me to tell you those stories."

"Well you always obliged. But you're right, he does seem a little naïve. I think he almost jumped a mile when he first saw me."

"You don't know half of it, he turned up here next morning asking me about it… that's when I found out it was you… and about Cindy." he added, his voice tinged with sadness.

Ellie laughed softly, gazing up at him;

"So then you came found me at the precinct. Sneaky!"

It wasn't long after that the pair of them went to bed. Ellie bedding down on the sofa again and Monroe climbing the stairs. He had been reluctant to leave her there, but she had insisted and so he'd gone up to his own room.

Later, when he lay in bed, drifting in and out of sleep part of him wasn't sure he'd made the right choice but there was nothing he could do. Something inside his chest felt strange, but now wasn't the time to deal with it, he mused, rolling over.

**…**

Monroe was thrown from his sleep by a gentle tapping on the door. Immediately he wondered if something was wrong; if Steiner had called Ellie again.

Then the door slid open a couple of inches, and in the half light he could see Ellie's face peering round the door.

"Eddie?"

"Yeah? What's wrong?" he replied, sleepily, trying to comprehend what was going on.

"Nothing it's just…can I stay with you?… I can't sleep and I'm scared." there was a pause while she waited for his answer, in the silence you could hear a pin drop, then the Blutbad patted the bed next to him.

"Come on, it's alright."

He heard her pad quickly across the room, sliding in between the sheets next to him.

"Thanks," she said softly.

He'd thought she would stay on the other side of the bed, so he was surprised when she came right up next to him, snuggling into him like they were a couple and resting her head on his chest, her hand on his stomach and pressing her body right up against his.

It felt slightly strange, but for some reason not in a bad way and he surprised himself by tucking an arm around her to keep her close. Then he realised she was just wearing a vest and underwear again. That made him feel awkward. Why oh why did she have to be wearing so little?

The pair of them lay there, both silent but both awake, lost in their thoughts in the darkness. A few minutes passed and then Ellie spoke, barely above a whisper,

"I'm sorry about this, I really am… it's all my fault Cindy's dead, I should have done more to protect her."

"Are you crazy? It's not you're fault, you said you tried to protect her. You seem to have spent your whole life trying to make her happy." The Blutbad paused, "Didn't you ever try and make yourself happy?"

Ellie said nothing, her grip on his shirt tightening as if she was clinging to him for dear life. To Monroe it seemed like she was so lost, her whole life spent trying to make someone else's dreams come true, to give someone else a fabled happily ever after and now she had nothing. That was no way to live.

"Look I know I'm no expert but I know you can't spend you're whole life trying to make someone happy and not taking time for yourself. You have to make yourself happy first and then you can focus on others. I can't believe I'm giving a Geschenkgeber advice." He smiled, gazing down at the petite figure next to him. She looked up at him, a soft smile on her lips as she raised herself up slightly. Monroe could smell her soft scent. It smelt of cinnamon and vanilla and powdered sugar and coco powder, everything sweet. She was lying across him now, her body pressed on top of his, her face just inches above his own.

And then she kissed him.

It was gentle and soft, like her lips and the feeling that had sat in his chest stirred. It wasn't a long kiss but when she pulled away she stayed so close to him that he could feel her warm breath on his skin.

Monroe tried to make his face passive, but he was sure that a stunned look had crossed it.

"Ok…" he said slowly, confused …

"You told me to do what makes me happy," The Godmother replied, "This makes me happy, do you mind?" but it wasn't really a question about that one kiss, it was a question about many things. In his heart, Monroe realised he didn't mind, he never had done and never would do.

Another kiss.

This one was harder, more forceful. There was passion behind it, waiting to erupt and this time he returned it until it became one kiss after another. Hungry, deep, passionate kisses. Inside his chest, the feeling grew, it was instinctual, wild and lustful something he hadn't felt in a while. It pushed it's way out of him as he ran his fingers down her skin, pulling off her clothes and rolling her over, pinning her gently under him and gazing deep into her eyes, feeling her body underneath his as they let the darkness consume them.

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><p><em>Ta-da... is it time for an awkward turtle moment? That is the first time I've written (well published) anything like that so hopefully I have done it nice a tastefully. Please review xx<em>


	7. Chapter 7 Enter One Grimm

_Hi there! Thankies for your patience and here is your reward! Thanks for your ongoing support; the reviews, the favourite adds etc it really makes my day. The positiveness encourages me to keep writing so please keep reading and reviewing ^_^_

_If I'm going to be honest, the scene which opens this chapter was one of the first I thought of - I just had to write everything that came before it!_

_Little note: I do not own Grimm but some of this is mine!_

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><p>The soft morning light shone gently through the curtains upon the two figures curled up together in the bed, the sheets tangled around their waists.<p>

Ellie opened her eyes slowly, flickering her eyelashes as they adjusted to the gentle light and the unfamiliar surroundings. The room was beautiful; delicate antique clocks and wooden features, it was a room you felt safe and comfortable in. Tucked up behind her, his arm resting gently around her waist, she could feel the warm body of the Blutbad. His skin felt soft against hers' and she realised they were both still naked. A contended smile slipped across her lips as the memories of the early morning returned and she snuggled deeper into him, closing her eyes again and breathing in his comforting smell. It reminded her of wood and polish and something else, something from the great outdoors; wild and free.

Monroe awoke when he felt Ellie pressing against him. He was a little dazed, only half awake as he tried to recall what had happened and the memories that returned were good ones. Feeling the gentle, warm body cuddled up in front on him, he realised neither of them were dressed and despite all that had happened between them, it still made him a little uncomfortable. And at the same time he felt protective of her, it was an instinctual thing; there was a woman in his bed which was his territory. He felt her push up against him again, wiggling slightly. Now she was doing it deliberately. She wanted to know if he was awake … and if he would react.

The Blutbad decided to react, but not quite how she expected … his arm tightened gently around her and he trailed a series of kisses across her shoulder and up her neck, exacting a small sigh of delight before blowing into her ear. The response was what he wanted a squeak and uncomfortable wriggle as she reached up with one hand to pat her ear where his breath had tickled her. She rolled over to face him, smiling brightly, blonde hair falling softly across her face and eyes alight.

"Good morning," she whispered, "Sleep well?"

"Not too bad," he responded, "although I did get disturbed for a while."

"Oh no, that's too bad." Ellie reached up, brushing a hand across his chin, "Did you mind?"

Monroe rolled his eyes, smiling;

"Yeah it was horrible." he replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm sorry, let me make it up to you." and she kissed him again, soft and sweet. "But you have to admit, it was a lot better than when we were in high school."

"Yeah, but let's face it," he added, "we were what sixteen? and pretty stupid sixteen year olds if I'm honest."

"That's true," she giggled, "do you remember that day in June? When we snuck out and then back to your house because your parents were away. I told my mum I was at Cindy's…"

Monroe remembered… they'd been so close as friends that everyone had asked why they weren't dating, so they'd tried it for a while. Their families hadn't really minded, because at least they knew who they were with, but that hadn't meant their parents weren't strict. So that meant they'd mostly snuck out to the woods at night to make out, then trying to get in without getting caught. Typical stupid teenage stuff!

Then, one night in june, when Monroe's parent's had gone away Ellie had snuck into Monroe's room, and what followed was … well from what he remembered, it was pretty fun. What happened afterwards was less so. They'd fallen asleep and been caught the next morning by Monroe's mother, coming to check in on her (supposedly sleeping) teenage son.

They'd thought the noise she'd made would be heard across the whole neighbourhood.

"Oh yeah… we got in so much trouble. I still remember what happened afterward."

"You're dad was so mad." she laughed, "Mind you so was my mum…"

The pair of them had been sat on the sofa - one at each end - and been given a massive lecture by Monroe's father on being responsible teenage Wesen. Then Monroe had been subjected to another lecture on being a teenage Blutbad, and everything that entailed etc etc. He could still hear it, if he thought hard enough.

The Blutbad was brought back from his memories by Ellie kissing softly down jaw line and onto his neck, stroking his chest and he found himself emitting a low rumble of desire.

"Yeah, but I think we've both had some practice since then.." she added, gazing up at him, looking hungrily into his eyes.

"Well you have a husband to…." Monroe's eyes widened in shock and the realisation smacked him around the head like an iron bar. He practically leapt away from her, falling out of bed and taking the duvet with him, landing with a smack on the hard floor. Shock was written all over his face.

"Oh God, you have a husband! We should not be doing this, I am not going to help you cheat."

Jumping up, he began frantically trying to find his boxers and a shirt. Ellie watched him from the bed, her face was almost sad.

"Eddie please…"

"No I'm not going to help you… I don't do that."

"Wait, would you let me finish?" Monroe stopped, and looked up to see Ellie extending her left hand.

There was no wedding ring on it.

"We separated about six months ago, the divorce was finalised about six weeks ago." she added sadly, sat curled up on the bed, shivering a little now. Monroe picked the duvet up and placed across her legs, covering up her nakedness a little, perching on the bed next to her.

"Oh man, I'm sorry." He reached a hand out and she squeezed it, "What happened? If you don't mind me asking that is."

"No it's fine… I couldn't make him happy I guess. I spent so much time with Cindy I guess I neglected him slightly, so he replaced me…" she shook her head, giving a short sad sigh, "She looks like me… guess he wanted something similar." there was a contemptuous edge to her voice, "…in our bed as well…."

Monroe growled slightly, squeezing her hand tightly. He didn't like cheaters, especially if he knew the one getting hurt. "There was something else as well…" she paused, looking up at him with sad eyes. There was pain, he could see, bottled up along with anger and sadness.

"What…?" he asked softly, moving closer to him as she rested her head against his shoulder, taking a deep breath. What was making her so sad, he wondered.

"I… I can't have kids…" it was soft, barely more than a whisper. As if she could hardly bring herself to admit it. Monroe sat there, her head resting on his shoulder, completely stunned. It wasn't what he'd expected at all. He knew how must that must hurt, since they were kids themselves Ellie had always said she wanted to be a mother, and to have that taken away from you, the one thing you wanted above everything else; it must be the most heartbreaking and painful thing in the world. Typically though, she was still smiling and carrying on as if nothing was wrong. How the hell did she keep it up?

"I'm so sorry" he said softly, lifting her chin with one hand and gazing into her face, "I really am… I know what being a mother meant to you."

"It's ok… really… I've dealt with it now… I've known for a long time...I guess that's when the problems started, we never talked about it so we just drifted apart…" taking a deep breath, she continued, "maybe, now we've separated I could try adoption, Eric never really wanted to consider it." Another pause, and another deep breath. "I've heard there's a Wesen only adoption agency with a branch in Portland, Eric isn't a Wesen so I couldn't say anything but maybe now…" there was hope in her voice, and a little smile twitched on her lips, "If not I've got Toby, that's Cindy's son, he's a really sweet kid. Just like her and," she giggled slightly, "I'm his Godmother. Maybe I'll get to keep seeing him, we're pretty close."

Monroe smiled. Maybe things were better for her now, he'd never been that fond of Ellie's husband. True he was devoted to her but he wasn't the world's greatest guy, he'd always thought she could do a lot better.

A lot better.

Ellie looked back up at him, the smile a little brighter. Perhaps she really had dealt with it, but Monroe wasn't sure whether to believe it, she was so good at hiding her true feelings. With one hand she gently pushed him back down the bed. Placing a hand either side of his shoulders, leaning down close to him.

"So, now we've cleared that up… can we continue?" smiling playfully as she began to kiss him again, "By the way, which is better now; the cupcakes or this?" and a low growl rose from Monroe's chest.

**…**

It was nearly 9 O'clock.

Therefore, Nick reasoned, it was not to early to call on Monroe and his guest. Even though it was a Saturday, he didn't think that the Blutbad's routine changed that much.

Reaching out a hand, he knocked sharply and waited. From inside he could hear someone moving towards the door, but it didn't sound like Monroe. With a soft click the door swung open and the Grimm was greeted by the sight of a smiling Godmother. The first thing he noticed was the fact she wasn't dressed, in her own clothes at any rate. She was wearing one of Monroe's large checked shirts, which hung like a dress on her frame and she'd pulled her hair up into a loose bun on the top of her head. From Nick's experience, you only wore your host's clothes if you'd had an accident or, what seemed like the more likely explanation, if you were a couple or had a one night stand. He tried not to laugh, or let it his thought process read on his face as she spoke.

"Good morning detective. Come on in!" her tone was bright and cheerful, she seemed a lot more cheerful than when he'd left there the night before… a second evidence point, he thought chalking up marks in his mind, he was so going to tease Monroe about this.

"Eddie's just in the shower and I was just going to make breakfast, can I tempt you?" she added, directing him through into the kitchen.

"No, it's fine. Thank you."

"Are you sure? I've got blueberry muffins and fresh coffee."

"Well…" he could smell them now and it was making him drool, "…maybe just one."

Which is how Nick found himself sat on the sofa next to Ellie, with a mug of coffee and a basket of blueberry muffins between them, chatting away and looking at an old album of photos she'd dug out of her bag.

"I brought these to show Eddie last night, but we never got round to it. What with everything that happened."

"Why Eddie?" Nick asked, taking a bite out of another warm muffin. Was this his second muffin or his third? He'd lost count now. Maybe he should ask her for the recipe and get Juliette to make them.

Ellie laughed, shaking her head;

"Sorry, it must sound kind of weird to you but it's what I've always called him. We've known each other since we were seven and I couldn't call him Monroe then. I've never called him anything else and never will, I'd find it too strange!"

"Seriously, seven years old?"

"Yup, we've got so many stories on each other. The stuff I could tell you about our Blutbad would make your ears burn, especially as a Grimm!" she laughed again, "But then again he could easily get his revenge. Doesn't mean I can't show you these…" and she opened the photo album.

Nick had to laugh. Smiling and laughing from the pages was a teenage Monroe. His face was less lined and worn and there was no hint of the beard. His hair was different too, that was probably what made Nick chuckle most, it was longer, falling in wild curls and almost comical. Ellie saw him laughing,

"It's the hair isn't it? I teased him about it once and he threw me into a lake!" she turned the pages, looking for one in particular.

"Here," she said, showing him the photo, "you'll love this one!" Nick glanced over and nearly choked on his mouthful of muffin. The photo showed two teenagers in fancy dress costume, he recognised Ellie immediately because she only looked a bit older now, with the same blonde hair, dressed as Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Next to her was Monroe, looking vaguely grumpy, with massive backcombed hair, a pair of flurry ears and complete with what looked like eyeliner nose and whiskers.

"That was at our friend Alice's fairy tale themed Halloween party, he wasn't gonna wear a costume so I picked one for him!" Ellie giggled, "He was so mad!"

"I'm not surprised!" Nick added; he hadn't laughed so much in ages. There were loads of photos, not just of her and Monroe but of Cindy too, all innocently smiling and laughing, because when you're a teenager your problems are never really so bad - not compared to the ones that come later…

One photo caught his eye, it showed Ellie sat happily across Monroe's lap, one arm around his neck as she kissed him…

"You and Monroe?" he said, looking directly at her. Was that a tiny blush forming on her cheeks?

"Yeah we dated for about a year in high school then just went back to being friends and he met Molly, which didn't end well…" she said, "then we got back together for a while before college but that was mostly just friends with… well you get the idea, he was getting much wilder then!" she laughed, "but you probably didn't need to know that…" Nick smiled, it was funny really. He spent so much time with the clockmaker and yet knew hardly anything about him, only what had come up in relevant conversations.

"Hey what's going on in here?" from around the corner, a damp looking Blutbad head appeared, hearing the laughter. "Morning Nick" he added making his way toward them. He'd obviously not long got out of the shower because although he was dressed, his hair was still wet. He leaned over the back of the sofa, noticing the album and then the photos.

"Oh that's not fair! Ellie-May you can't show him that." he said, a tad grumpily but smiling, taking the album out of her hands and gently tapping her on the head with it.

"Why not? And don't call me that!" came the response, as Ellie stuck her tongue out playfully at him. It made Nick laugh, as the pair of them started bickering light-heartedly.

"It's like watching an old married couple!" the Grimm interjected and Monroe laughed.

"I see you made a start on the muffins huh?"

"Yeah, they're really good." he responded, noticing the basket was half empty and there were half a dozen muffin cases open on the sofa. Surely he hadn't eaten all of them?

"Well you should try her pancakes?" said Monroe, taking of the muffins and seating himself beside Ellie on the sofa. It felt oddly cosy.

"Oooh pancakes?"

"Is that a hint?" asked the Godmother, rising from the sofa, gazing at the pair of them with the caring look mothers often give their children, "Give me ten minutes then and you boys will have pancakes!" and with that she disappeared round the corner into the kitchen, only reappearing once half a minute later to place a mug of steaming coffee into the Blutbad's paws.

Nick and Monroe found themselves sat silently on the sofa, listening to the sounds of pots clattering and picking at the muffin basket.

"So," Nick said, "she seems a lot happier this morning…." a sly smile crossing his face, "you obviously made her feel better."

"Well they say a good nights sleep will cure anything." answered Monroe, avoiding his gaze.

Nick laughed, dropping his voice to a whisper,

"Well it helps if you sleep." he paused, looking straight at his friend, "Monroe, I can add two and two and make four."

"I guess…" the Blutbad seemed a little confused, or maybe he was just faking it. "But ..."

"You two slept together didn't you?" Nick said, cutting him off and Monroe went a very funny colour, "You do realise she's involved in a murder investigation?"

"Woah woah back up - ok firstly of all, its not technically any of your business although yes we did…" he paused, looking a little embarrassed at telling Nick this, "and secondly, I left her on the sofa - she came to my room in the middle of the night, I might add, and started it!" now there was a smile crossing his face.

At this point Ellie reappeared with what looked like pancake mountain and a tray piled high with plates, cutlery, syrup, cream and fruit. It was a wonder she was managing to carry it all. Monroe jumped up, to help her with her pile before she dropped it all over the floor. As they placed the stuff on the table, Nick heard Monroe whisper;

"Nick knows by the way…"

Ellie laughed, placing the pancakes on the table, before digging him in the ribs gently and replying, loud enough for him to hear.

"Did you tell him it was twice?"

Nick snorted, trying to muffle a laugh and although Monroe looked uncomfortable, Ellie didn't. The conversation flowed happily over the second round of breakfast. It was strange, thought Nick, it was just like having breakfast with two good friends. He'd hardly known Ellie at all, but she was so lovely he couldn't help like her and watching her and Monroe was pretty entertaining; like a strange mix of a couple and a brother and sister.

Their happy moment was shattered by the ringing of Ellie's phone. The noise made them all jump, it sounded alien and unwelcome in this happy place.

The Godmother retrieved it out of her bag, her face draining of all colour when she recognised the number.

"It's Tom…." she said softly, holding the phone like it was going to bite her.

"Answer it," replied Nick, his voice serious, the cop inside him taking over, "Put it on speaker, try and stay calm and do as I say."

"Hello?" Ellie said, softly, trying to calm her shaking voice but that didn't stop her body from trembling like a leaf.

"Hello little Ellie…" the voice on the other end was male, but also silken and smooth, the kind of voice that sends shivers down your spine.

"What do you want Tom?" her voice was barely above a whisper as she placed the phone down onto the table, almost collapsing into a chair. Monroe stood up, placing himself protectively behind her, his hand squeezing her shoulder.

"I just wanted to let you know I'm back in Portland." Silently Nick grabbed his phone, "and I want to see you again. I never got to tell you what happened to your little Cindy-Lou…"

"You killed her…" Ellie's voice began to choke, a tear rolling down her cheek. Nick had moved away into the kitchen, furiously making phone calls but still listening closely to everything that was being said.

"I merely punished her … and now it's your turn… you turned her against me Ellie-May. You made her not love me…" his voice was getting colder, it made the blood freeze in your veins, like a frost spreading across anything that it touched. "You wanted her to leave me… and now you must pay! You must come see me little Ellie-May."

Ellie was shaking, more tears falling. Nick could see she was terrified. He moved behind her and Monroe stepped over to make room. He knelt beside her whispering quickly,

"Tell him you'll meet him, but somewhere you know…."

Tom Steiner reminded Nick of a snake, hypnotising it's pray softly before the kill.

"Tom…" Ellie said, "Where shall I meet you?"

"I'm so glad you said yes…. meet me in one hour in the car park behind the old cinema just off 81st, they're re-showing the old Disney film, 'Cinderella'… isn't that ironic for you little Ellie-May?"

Ellie could not move or speak, she was frozen in fear, her mouth was half open but no words would come.

"Only this time," Tom Steiner continued, his words like venom, "there will be no more happy endings." and with that the phone line went dead.

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><p><em>In the next chapter; it's time for some action! Will our trusty Grimm save the day as per usual? Please keep reviewing and reading xx<em>


	8. Chapter 8 Let Her Go

_Sooooo... there is quite possibly no amount of apologies to cover how late this chapter is, but I'm really really sorry; please forgive me. I've been dealing with a few issues in real life and for some reason this seemed to get put on a sideline, also I'm sorry it's quite short. However it's back ^_^ Please keep reading and reviewing and thankies for your patience! _

___Side Note: I don't own Grimm, but some of this is the product of my slightly warped imagination._

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><p>The silence seemed to last a lifetime.<p>

Then something inside Nick seemed to snap back to reality, the police mentality overriding any emotion as he began forming a plan, gritty determination etched deep in his face. Once again he began to make phone calls, moving into the kitchen and chatting away furiously as he brought the entirety of Portland's Police Department up to speed.

Monroe watched him, glad the Nick was a cop but more that he was a friend. At least something could be done this time and he wouldn't have to see more people he cared about get hurt.

Ellie said nothing, she just sat there staring at the phone on the table, all colour drained out of her face.

"Well it's all sorted," Nick said, his conversation suddenly directed at them, "The police will handle it, Ellie you will stay here under the protection of Monroe and they'll send a squad car just to be on the safe side."

Monroe nodded, a weight in his chest lifting. Nick would get the guy and Ellie wouldn't get hurt - case closed. And yet… and yet… in the back of his mind a little nagging voice told him it wasn't going to be that simple, nothing was ever that simple. Especially where Grimm's were concerned… doubly so if their name was Nick Burkhardt!

"…No…" the whisper broke the silence, "…I won't let you…" Ellie looked straight up into Nick's eyes, gazing deep into them, "I won't let you put your life on the line for me…. This is my fault…." her voice weighed heavy with sadness, "It was always my fault."

"There are no arguments here. This is final." Nick replied, his voice was firm and there was a slight edge to it that warned against disagreement.

"But…"

"No buts. You're staying here with Monroe."

The voice said cased closed.

Monroe took Nick off to one side. Much as he hated to do it, he had to admit one thing…

"How will you find this guy without Ellie?"

"I'm not sure… smoke him out." Nick replied, moving into the kitchen with the Blutbad, grabbing another cup of coffee, right now he needed the caffine; "The important thing is to keep her safe."

They paused, considering the situation with the unspoken feeling between them that Ellie needed protecting from the seemingly psychotic Tom Steiner. Both of them were brooding silently, not really concentrating.

The next thing they heard was the slamming of the front door…

It made them jump and they spun round looking for the source and then they realised,

"Crap… Ellie's gone!" Nick realised, sticking his head around the door.

"What?" Monroe followed him through, "Oh man, this is so typical of her. She doesn't want us to get hurt so she's gone by herself."

"Is this typical of Gute Fee?" Nick asked, pulling he keys out his pocket.

"Only ones names Eleanor-May!" he replied, grabbing is coat and heading out the front door, the detective on his heels.

…

When Ellie arrived at the cinema car park, she could feel herself shaking. This isn't what she'd wanted, but she couldn't bare the thought of anyone else she cared about getting hurt. It was time to put a stop to this and if she had to put herself in the firing line then so be it.

She was afraid, but not of the prospect of death; only of pain.

If he kills me, she thought as she got out of her car, please let him do it quickly.

Walking slowly to the centre of the tarmac, she tried to take deep breaths to calm her racing heart.

"Tom…." she called out softly, "Tom?"

There was a soft swishing behind her and the sound of footsteps crunching across loose stones. Spinning round Ellie could feel the breath catch in her throat, fear rising inside her.

Stood 6 foot in front of her was Tom Steiner.

Although he looked relaxed, his hands in his pockets, head on one side, he radiated a hypnotic power, the sort a snake has over a mouse…

"Hello little Ellie-May, it's nice to see you again. Did you miss me?" His voice was barely louder than a whisper, light but cold. Ellie couldn't speak, throat dry and terror freezing her to the spot. Eventually she managed to shake her head.

"No… well that's not very nice now is it… because I missed you… you were always round at my house, with my wife… like an unwanted member of my family… a pest I couldn't get ride of… its such a shame your husband had so little control over you."

He walked slowly towards her but Ellie couldn't move, her muscles were solid rooting her to the spot and although her brain screamed at her to run, to run far and fast and hope that is Tom had a weapon, he wasn't good at using it…

3 feet from her now and still she could not move. Her whole body was shaking, she could feel herself breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Please Tom…" she begged softly, "Please… I don't'…"

"Please what? What is it little Ellie?" he was stood behind her now, his hand on her shoulder, running his icy hands up across her to neck, "Are you scared of me? Because if so, I'm pleased…"

His hand encircled her neck, caressing the skin. His touch made her skin prickle and she could feel goose bumps on her arms. He knew he scared her, he always had and now he was enjoying his revenge. Why hadn't she just done as Nick told her?

On the side of her neck she felt a sharp prick and tried to turn her neck, but Tom's hands held her fast. It was only then she realised Tom was pressing a knife across her skin.

It was a knife she'd seen before. In the kitchen of Cindy's house. Long and thin, with a carved handle and sharp blade. Now she knew how Cindy had ended up with half of those cuts, she'd never broken anything…

"You've seen this before? Clever girl, I was wondering when you'd notice…" Ellie realised he must have seen her looking, "We're going to have so much fun together, you and I." his voice was light, almost musical, full of some sadistic joy. "But we can't stay here, oh no, you're going to come with me where no one will ever find you…"

Ellie couldn't help it as terror over took her and tears began to fall. She could see the end of her life approaching and it was going to be nothing but pain and horror.

And all she could think of was Monroe.

The Blutbad filled her mind, smiling and laughing. Holding her… kissing her…making love with her in the early morning… the memories of their last few days flooded her mind as she realised she would never see her again, and that was the most painful thought of all.

"Tom Steiner…" the voice came from behind them; calm and calculating. "You are under arrest for the murder of Cindy Steiner and for grievous bodily harm." a flicker of realisation in the back of Ellie's mind…Nick. "Put the weapon down and let Eleanor go."

"Nick…" she breathed his name, it was too good to be true and then gasped as she felt the cold blade of the knife push further into her skin and the sensation of something trickling down her neck.

…

Monre stood behind Nick's car, hidden from view but under orders from the detective not to move. There was backup on the way and he was going to try and arrest Tom and now stood, pointing a gun at his head.

When they pulled up they could already see him the middle of the car park, stood behind Ellie. They couldn't see if he had a weapon but something was keeping the Godmother rooted to the spot.

Then he smelt it; the metallic tang of blood.

It invaded his nostrils, his senses and his mind, calling to the Blutbad inside of him.

Something was wrong. Nick hadn't fired the gun. Neither of them had moved. Which meant the blood had to be Ellie's.

Monroe could feel the rage inside of him building, his eyes reddening as he felt himself beginning to change. Nobody hurt the people he cared about. Nobody…

Tom Steiner was in trouble now.

Time seemed to halt as with one move he leapt from behind the car, moving towards the motionless crowd.

"Let. Her. Go!" the voice that erupted from his throat was more a growl and he was having a hard time subduing the Blutbad inside him. The ruthless killer that wanted to tare the pyscho limb from limb.

Steiner whirled round, Ellie still in his grasp, to see his new opponent. Another smile spread across his thin lips, the sort of smile that made your blood run cold.

But nothing like that scared Monroe and he stared back, furious blood pumping through his veins, trying hard to resist the urge to rip his throat out.

"Ahhh more people…. I did think I had told her to come alone, but then again I don't ever remember the little whore listening to people anyway…" He continued to press the knife into Ellie's neck as he spoke. Monroe could smell the trickle of blood and watched the terrified woman's eyes widen, but as she looked up at him, there was a tiny flicker of relief in her eyes.

Monroe say it, that little glimmer, and he realised that she was pleased to see him. Relieved that he had come for her, that he had followed her, to rescue her. Not something Blutbad's were usually renowned for…still Monroe was getting good at rescued people now, he'd lost track of the times he'd saved Nick…

"You must be the famous Monroe…" Steiner continued, softly, "I've heard so much about you."

For a moment Monroe was confused, how did Steiner know anything? He hadn't seen Ellie in years. He'd thought about her, that was true, but had she thought about him a lot more…

"Oh yeah, how's that?"

"Well little Ellie hear talks about you all the time… even more than her husband…" he paused, looking directly at Monroe, a wicked glint in his eye, "Did you know that the night before her wedding, she spent the whole evening at my house with my wife, crying, because the man she was walking down the aisle for wasn't you…."

Monroe's eyes widened as this statement hit home.

"In fact, she admitted to my darling wife recently that she still loves you. Isn't that sweet? Especially when she'd married someone else…but it doesn't matter… because now you will never have to worry about her again…" Ellie gasped as he pressed the knife further, there was more blood now. Move the knife any more and Tom was going to slit her throat wide open and then there was no hope.

"I wouldn't move by the way," he added coldly, "You will only kill your beloved faster…" and he began to laugh.

Monroe couldn't take it. The rage was boiling inside him and it was now or never.

As he leapt towards Steiner, there was the crack of a gunshot.

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><p><em>There we go, hope you liked it. Please review and there will be more to follow shortly, I promise xx<em>


	9. Chapter 9 Time Stands Still

_Well hello again ^_^ Not quite such a long wait this time, (not quite anyway). I'm super bogged down with essay work at the moment, but I'm halfway through the last one (although if anyone would like to write it for me I'd be very grateful :p)._

_Thankies for all of your continuous love and support, the reviews and the favourites! Please continue to review and let me know what you think in general, about anything. _

_Side note: I don't own Grimm *le sigh* but I can't wait for season two. Some of this is mine though._

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><p>Tom Steiner lay dead in a pool of his own blood.<p>

Nick stood just behind him, his gun still pointed at the place where Steiner's head had been second's before. It had been a risky shot, but one he would make again.

And now the bastard was dead.

Monroe swooped down and collected Ellie off the floor, clutching her to his chest as tightly as he dared. She was his now and he would never let her go again.

"Nice shot." He added, slightly breathlessly as his rage subsided and normality returned to his brain. Nick nodded in return, seeming slightly stunned by his good fortune. It was in his blood though; Grimm's were always good shots.

Glancing down at the bundle in his arms, the Blutbad realised Ellie was still bleeding. The smell of her blood made his insides turn.

"Ellie?" He said, softly. "Ellie?" with the repeat he very gently shook her. But it was no good, the Godmother was unconscious, most likely from shock and possibly blood loss Monroe reasoned.

The stream of blood that had started as a trickle was stronger now, the knife must have opened the wound up as it was pulled away when Steiner fell.

"She's bleeding." Monroe turned to Nick, panic edging into his usually calm voice, "It's getting worse. She needs to get to a hospital."

Nick nodded. He knew they had to move but he also knew he couldn't just abandon a dead body and a crime scene, Renard would have his head on a plate. From the little first aid he could remember, he knew they had to try and put pressure on the wound.

"We've gotta put pressure on it!" He said, putting the gun away and looking desperately around for backup. He'd called them on their way over, they should be here any minute.

Monroe nodded, gently kneeling down and laying Ellie on the ground. He could see the thin line of the wound across her skin. In a swift move, he pulled his over shirt off and ripped the sleeve off, clearly the Blutbad strength hadn't quite been subdued. He tore off a strip of material, and looked up at the slightly puzzled Grimm.

"You're gonna have to help me. If we can use the material to put pressure on it, it might help with the bleeding." Monroe's mind was trying to remember the little he knew about healing; he was more used to causing injury than fixing it. Nick was beside him, and very slowly lifted the Godmother's head off the floor, allowing Monroe to slide the strip of material around her neck. As carefully as possible he tied the strip as tight as he dared, hoping it would at least stem the tide of blood, but ultimately they needed a hospital. As soon as possible.

At least her breathing was still regular , Monroe noted as he watched her chest rise and fall gently trying to make it look like he wasn't just staring at her breasts. Mind you she was still very inappropriately dressed, still just wearing Monroe's old shirt with an added pair of shorts. But now was not the time to start thinking _those_ kind of thoughts.

Nick was stood up now, looking around for backup and pulling a phone out of his pocked to ring through. Glancing back at Monroe he added quickly,

"We better get her in the car, I don't think the ambulance will be here straight away."

Carefully, Monroe scooped the unconscious Ellie off the floor, pulling her protectively into his chest and carrying her across the rough tarmac to Nick's car. Somehow he managed to get the back door open and slid her gently across the seats so she was lying down, before hopping in next to her and resting her head and shoulders across his lap so he could keep and eye on the wound.

"Where the hell are the backup?" he muttered darkly to himself. It was as if time was standing still.

But in the distance he could here them. The piercing wail of the sirens as they streamed through the traffic towards them. And then they were visible, the flashing lights glinting the morning sun. There were three in total and as soon as the first one had pulled up, Hank shot out of it, closely followed by Wu as they dashed across to the Detective still stood near Steiner's cold body.

Monroe watched them converse quietly, for what seemed like an age, before Nick nodded and strode over to the car, pulling keys out of his jacket pocket and sliding into the front seat.

"This might get a little bumpy," he added, a small grin on his face, "and I may break a few laws as we go." before they were off, the engine revving as they sped along roads towards the nearest hospital.

"Is she still unconscious?" Nick asked, running a red light and ignoring the furious howls from other drivers.

"Yeah," The Blutbad replied, "but her breathing seems fairly regular, but I don't know how much she's bleeding…"

"It's ok, we're nearly there."

When they arrived, nearly two minutes later, Nick drove right up to the entrance, throwing himself out and helping Monroe out of the backseat as he carried Ellie through the glass doors.

Someone must have called ahead because there was a collection of doctors and nurses waiting and as soon as they set foot inside, they swooped down and took Ellie away, rushing her away down brightly lit corridors.

And it took everything inside Monroe not to run after her.

**…**

They had to wait two hours before they could see her.

To Monroe it felt like a hundred years.

Once the doctors had taken Ellie, a kindly nurse on reception had directed them to a waiting room and told them where to find coffee. She'd promised to come back and find them as soon as she had any news.

Nick stayed with him the whole time, even disappearing off to retrieve what turned out to be some very nasty coffee. Sometimes he talked, and a couple of times he made a phone call, but mostly they just sat quietly together. His presence was comforting in a strange way. It made Monroe feel calm and collected and he worried a little less, because Nick was there. He guessed that this was what friendship felt like. He hadn't experienced this sort of close friendship in a while. Not really since Ellie and now she was all he could think about. Her smile, her laugh, the way she crinkled up her nose when she was embarrassed, how he felt when she lay next to him in bed, the smell of her skin….

A little nagging thought reappeared, something he hadn't had a chance to think about; she still loved him, from what Steiner had said. If she did, how did he feel about that?

Finally the nurse reappeared and beckoned them with her.

"We've run lots of tests just in case and they had to put a few stitches in her neck so she will be very sore so you will have to be gentle with her Mr Thomas."

The name threw Monroe for a second.

"Mr Thomas?" his tone was surprised and questioning and the nurse must have noticed something was wrong because she added,

"Oh I'm sorry are you not her husband?"

"No… I'm just a friend… she's divorced…"

"Oh I'm so sorry, we just assumed seeing as her name is Mrs Thomas, and you brought her in and she's been asking for you repeatedly since she woke up." The nurse blushed, "Sorry, we thought you were her husband and your friend was a family friend or her brother."

"No it's fine, don't worry" Monroe added, smiling slightly, but his insides were churning, she kept asking for him… and all the staff had assumed they were together… he wasn't quite sure how it made him feel…. And behind him, he was sure he could hear Nick giggling.

When they got to the room, all they could see was a small figure stretched out on the bed and surrounded by machines that hummed softly. Ellie's eyelids fluttered softly and a smile crept across her lips when she saw her visitors.

"Eddie.." her voice was soft, barely more than a whisper. The nurse turned to the men and smiled,

"Now you can have 15 minutes, that's all I'm afraid. I'll come back and get you when it's time to go." and then she left, closing the door behind her.

Monroe pulled up a chair alongside the bed, stretching out his hand and enveloping Ellie's small one inside his own. Beside him, Nick pulled up another chair and was grinning,

"I'm glad to see you're alright." He said softly, his voice almost catching. Monroe realised that this must be a little tough on the Grimm. First he'd lost Aunt Marie and then spent a large period of time here himself after being attacked, he must really hate hospitals by now.

"Thanks…" The Godmother's voice was so quiet they almost had to strain their ears, "…and I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have run off but…"

"It's ok," Nick interjected, "I'm just glad you're ok,"

Monroe nodded, trying to find something to say. There was so much he wanted to voice but he couldn't seem to find the words. Instead he just squeezed her hand, and felt her gently squeeze back.

"Me too…" were the only ones that he managed to find, but Ellie smiled again.

"Apparently I'm going to have a lovely scar, I'll have to think of a good story to tell everyone."

"Well I think you have a pretty good one," Nick chuckled, "although we could throw in something about a fight with a bear if you wanted…"

"Or a wolf," Ellie grinned back, "it sounds more interesting anyway."

There was a pause.

"…Is he dead?"

They all knew who she meant.

"…yeah." Monroe replied softly, "Nick shot him…"

"Thanks…" Ellie added, gazing softly at the Detective, " I can't really remember that part… but thanks… for everything. I always knew Grimm's weren't that bad!"

Nick let out a small snort of laughter,

"See you shouldn't believe everything you've been told."

Ellie giggled, but her eyes were still sad. Monroe could see she was still trying to come to terms with everything that had happened that morning and inside himself all he could think was that he should have done more to protect her.

It seemed like barely a minute before the nurse returned to usher them out,

"You can come back this afternoon if you like, but right now she needs some rest."

Reluctantly the pair of them stood up, Nick exiting first and promising to return as soon as possible, if he could escape the mountain of paperwork that was no doubt piling up on his desk as they spoke. Monroe squeezed her hand again and then, without thinking about it, leant down and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"I'll be back this afternoon, if that's ok?" he said softly, and Ellie nodded as she took a deep breath in. As he turned to leave she added three little words,

"Come back soon."

Monroe smiled and waved as the nurse shooed him out. It wasn't until he'd walked five steps down the corridor to where Nick was waiting that he remember something.

That was what Ellie had always said to him when they were children, when she was sad he was leaving. Then she had admitted to him that what she really meant… what she always wanted to say….

"I love you."

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><p><em>Okey day, we're getting there now. Only a two (possible three) chapters to go. Please keep reviewing and supporting me xxx<em>


	10. Chapter 10 Visiting Hours

_Hello again! Once again I have been very slow in updating because I've been finishing the last of my papers but I can now rejoice because it is complete! There will be much celebration and more updating, although I haven't got much left to write. Thanks again for all the continued support - please continue to read and review! _

_Side Notes: I don't own Grimm *le sigh* but some of this is mine. _

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><p>Ellie was in the hospital for nearly a week and Monroe visited her twice a day, everyday.<p>

She tried not to moan about being cooped up, but the Blutbad could tell she was a little frustrated and maybe the doctors were being a little over cautious but it probably was for the best and secretly he was glad.

Monroe wasn't the only visitor. Nick came virtually every day, sneaking out of work to come and spend some time with the Godmother. The two of them had struck up an easy going friendship and were getting closer all the time. They chatted about everything and anything and Monroe was pretty sure Ellie was telling Nick stories about their youth, mostly because he'd walked in on them chatting and they'd both gone very quiet and then started laughing. It made his ears burn.

He hadn't pushed the subject of that morning with Steiner or anything that had been said. If she wanted to talk about it, Monroe reckoned, she would bring it up. There was nothing worse than someone demanding you explain something you weren't ready for or ready to deal with. Instead he just spent time with her, often perched on the side of the bed next to her because she insisted. It was comical trying to fit both of them on a single hospital bed but somehow they managed without falling off. Most of the time he just tried to keep her company and distracted. The stitches in Ellie's neck itched constantly after the first few days and it was only the threat of asking Juliette for a cone, the sort they use on dogs, to stop her scratching them that she gave in.

The food wasn't much good either, standard hospital fare, although most of her staff at the bakery kept sending her vast amounts of emergency food parcels filled with cakes and cookies. Ellie managed to eat some, but most of them went to the doctors and nurses or whoever walked past her room. At one point they'd sent a whole 'Get well soon' cake and Ellie had immediately asked for it to be dispatched to paediatrics because in her opinion,

"All children love cake!"

It was so typical of Ellie, Monroe thought as he'd helped take the cake up to the children, even at this point when she was so vulnerable all she wanted to do was help others.

The cake had gone down a storm and when they'd told Ellie, she beamed so beautifully it reminded Monroe of the night sky when it shimmered with stars. Nothing usually elicited such a, there was no other word for it, soppy reaction from him but un-unnervingly he found himself having these thoughts more often.

Nick seemed to notice it too. They went out for a few beers one evening after visiting Ellie and after a couple Nick said,

"She loves you, y'know. You can see it in her face. She has a lovely smile…."

Monroe had ignored him a little, it was probably the beer talking. Probably. Nick was such a lightweight.

But some little nagging voice in his brain told him not to forget that. He had attempted to shut the voice up with more beer and then rum. The result for both of them had been a hangover and when Monroe had turned up at the hospital the next day, Ellie had dissolved into hysterics when she realised what had happened.

"Bless you, you're both such lightweights."

"Are not!" Monroe whispered back, hoarsely, "I think I drunk twice as much as him…. Maybe….. Maybe not."

So while the Blutbad had spent the morning nursing a headache, Ellie reminded him of the time they'd all gotten hold of a bottle of vodka when they were seventeen.

"No wonder I hate the stuff." Monroe added, wondering if it would be possible for a nurse to find him some form of drugs. Powerful ones.

The day after, he'd arrived bearing gifts. Partly by way of apology and partly because, well he wasn't quite sure why… because he wanted to make her smile. The first thing was a bunch a flowers. Sunflowers. The one flower she'd always said she loved most.

When she saw them, her eyes lit up and her mouth opened in surprise. Monroe couldn't help notice how beautiful her mouth was… a perfect little cupid's bow in pale pink that looked so soft …. So kissable…

"Oh my God Eddie. Sunflowers? I can't believe you remembered after all this time!"

"Yeah well my memory is pretty good."

"They're beautiful. I love them."

And she meant it.

Putting the flowers on the chair next to her bed, she patted the sheets motioning him to sit down and as soon as he did, she flung her arms around him, squeezing him tightly.

"Thank you so much."

Although the hug had thrown Monroe for a second, he couldn't help pull her close, holding him too his chest and breathing in her soft, sweet scent. Inside him, he realised he could never let her go. When the released each other, he handed her a large bag that somehow she'd not noticed until then. The Godmother looked at him questioningly,

"Should I be worried?"

"Just open it."

Inside there was a large box, tied with ribbon. Pulling it out, Ellie's face wrinkled up in curiosity and she put it on her lap and pulled at the ribbon to undo it. As it fell away she opened the lid carefully, setting it aside and unwrapping the layer of tissue paper on the top.

A beaming smile spread across her face and she gasped.

"Oh… wow…this is…."

Inside was a soft cake, sprinkled with icing sugar and a selection of golden brown shapes, lebkuchen, traditional gingerbread. The smell was heavenly; rich, fruity, spicy and sweet.

"Is this… stollen? And…. lebkuchen?"

Monroe nodded, watching as she broken off a piece of the German gingerbread, her eyes as wide as a child's at Christmas.

"I know Stollen is for Christmas but my mum heard from yours that you were in hospital… she remembered you loved it."

"Really? That's so sweet of her." Ellie snapped off another bit of the lebkuchen, savouring its richly spiced smell. She shook the box at Monroe, indicating he could have some and when he refused she just shook the box more violently until he gave in. He had to admit it was one of his favourite things.

"I didn't think your mum would remember I loved her gingerbread though… I haven't had some in ages…. It was your grandmother's recipe right?"

"Yeah…." Monroe paused, looking straight into her eyes, "Except that I asked her to make it… I remembered how much you adored it, and how when she made it you and I would sit in the kitchen and steal warm pieces off the tray when it came out the oven."

There was a pause, as if Ellie was trying to put something into words but couldn't.

Instead she kissed him.

She tasted like the gingerbread and it made Monroe melt. He squeezed her hand tightly and returned her kiss with a little force, desire rising inside him.

There was a cough and a chuckle behind them.

They broke apart and Monroe whipped round to see Nick stood in the doorway.

"Oh please don't let me stop you!" He laughed, "Although maybe you should wait until you get outside, after all this is a hospital."

Ellie laughed and patted the foot of the bed,

"Sorry, it's my fault! Here have some gingerbread."

"Thanks…" Nick perched on the bed and took a piece out the box, "You look a lot better, I hear you're going home tomorrow."

"Yeah, I finally get out on good behaviour!" Then she noticed Monroe's face, which had suddenly grown a look of surprised indignation, "Sorry Eddie, I hadn't got round to telling you, they only told me just before you arrived… which reminds me … will you pick me up tomorrow please? They want someone to collect me, they must think I'm a child." and she pouted, eyes twinkling.

Monroe nodded, trying to be serious, and squeezed her hand.

"No problems. Would you like dinner as well?" he added jokingly.

"Oooh that would be great!"

"Me too please, as long as you're not cooking it!" added Nick.

Monroe pushed him off the bed. It was like they'd all resorted to being children.

Happy and safe together. The terrors of the past all but forgotten.

**… …**

Some time later, when her two visitors from the morning had vanished, Ellie found herself receiving two more, accompanied by one of the doctors.

The two men in suits knocked on the door, their faces serious.

"Eleanor-May Thomas?"

"Yes, can I help?"

The two men entered and pulled up chairs, opening a briefcase. In the background, Ellie noticed one of the senior doctors lurking in case of trouble. She wondered what on earth these men were doing here. It frightened her a little and she wished Nick or Monroe was still here. Especially Monroe.

"My name is Chris Walder and this is my associate, John Ashcroft, we work for Hadfield and Combes, who represent the estate of the late Cindy Steiner." Ellie blinked, trying to make sense of everything. The other man smiled,

"Don't worry, it's not as serious as it sounds. We're here about Mrs Steiner's will, we understand you were a very good friend of hers."

Ellie nodded, as Chris Walder pulled some papers out of the case and shuffled them before adding softly,

"Mrs Thomas we know you were the Godmother of her son, Toby Steiner."

"Yes, I looked after him a lot. He's a lovely kid." Toby had spent enough time with her in the past when Cindy and Tom were fighting or busy that they were already close, maybe it was because Toby was so much like Cindy that they got on so well.

"Were you also aware that Mrs Steiner has named you as the legal guardian of her son?"

"What?" Ellie gasped, trying to take this in… legal guardian? Cindy had never mentioned it. Ever. The two men smiled and John continued,

"Obviously this is news to you but as it seems Thomas Steiner has left no mention of a guardian in his will, it appears that as long as both you and Toby agree, he will come to live with you now and you will be his legal guardian and all that entails."

"Do you understand?" added his associate.

Ellie nodded, lost for words. She bit her lip to try and stop herself from crying. Toby was coming to live with her. Ellie already loved him like a son. And now… now he would be.

She'd spent her whole life trying to make Cindy's dreams come true and now Cindy had fulfilled the only wish Ellie had ever had. Happiness engulfed her and a small tear of joy escaped from her as she whispered to herself…

"I'm going to be a mother."

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><p><em>Well now I reckon I have 2 chapters left to write, or maybe just one, depending on how things pan out! Please keep reviewing. Xxx<em>


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